South Dakota’s attorney general, who has been charged with traffic violations after a crash that killed a pedestrian, has stated he will not resign, though the governor has called on him to step down and the state’s House of Representatives has drawn up impeachment papers.
Jason Ravnsborg was charged last week with three misdemeanors: careless driving, operating a motor vehicle while using a mobile electronic device and driving out of his lane.
Ravnsborg was behind the wheel when Joseph Boever, 55, was fatally struck on the shoulder of a rural highway near Highmore, S.D., on the night of Sept. 12, 2020. Ravnsborg said he thought he had hit a deer and didn’t realize a man was dead until he returned to the crash site the next day.
A statement issued by his spokesman Tuesday began: “The Attorney General does not intend to resign. At no time has this issue impeded his ability to do the work of the office.”
Gov. Kristi Noem on Tuesday said she had called on Ravnsborg to resign, and House members the same day proposed two articles of impeachment to remove him from office.
Though he has been charged only with misdemeanors, videos of interviews with Ravnsborg that were posted Tuesday to the website of the South Dakota Department of Public Safety suggest that investigators found it hard to believe he didn’t know he had hit a person.
At one point, an investigator asks Ravnsborg about a pair of glasses found inside his vehicle. Ravnsborg says he doesn’t wear glasses.
“They’re Joe’s glasses,” the investigator says, referring to Boever. ” … His glasses are right there, Jason. … The only way for them to get there is through the windshield.”
When Ravnsborg says he didn’t see the glasses in his car, the agent emphasizes: “His face was in your windshield, Jason. Think about that.”
