Craig Price, Secretary of the South Dakota Department of Public Safety, Wednesday (March 9, 2022) encouraged a House of Representatives committee to consider the evidence and conduct of South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg while it continues to consider whether to impeach Ravnsborg for a Sept. 12, 2020, fatal crash where he struck and killed the Joseph Boever.
Secretary Price urged the House to consider the indisputable conclusions by the crash reconstruction experts, including:
- That Mr. Boever was killed because the Attorney General had been distracted;
- That Mr. Boever was walking east on the north shoulder near the grass; and
- That all four wheels of the Attorney General’s vehicle had crossed the rumble strips onto the road’s shoulder;
Secretary Price also urged the House to consider the Attorney General’s conduct, including:
- That Ravnsborg verbally indicated that he had seen Mr. Boever at the time of the impact and again in the aftermath of the crash;
- The untruthful statements by Ravnsborg to North Dakota BCI Special Agents;
- Ravnsborg’s behavior and questions regarding what investigators may find on his cell phone; and
- Ravnsborg and his advisors’ social media activity and text messages, before and after the crash, that may reflect viewpoints and character not in keeping with the high standards expected of the Attorney General;
“The investigation conducted by the South Dakota Highway Patrol and the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation was objective, thorough and fair,” wrote Secretary Price. “Their conclusions are not in dispute.”
The Secretary’s letter and a supplemental report completed by Highway Patrol Trooper John Berndt given to Speaker Gosch can be found here at the bottom. https://dps.sd.gov/.
Committee members are scheduled to meet again Thursday at the state Capitol.
Meanwhile…..
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s cabinet secretary who oversaw an investigation into the state’s attorney general for a 2020 fatal car crash have urged House lawmakers to bring impeachment charges against him. Secretary of Public Safety Craig Price alleges in a letter that Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg was distracted, was untruthful during the investigation and previously traded “disparaging and offensive” text messages with his staff about other state officials. A spokesman for Ravnsborg did not immediately respond to a request for comment. House Speaker Spencer Gosch called the pressure from Noem’s office an attempt to “interfere” in an investigation belonged to the House.
Comments