Today, in conjunction with a press conference with Governor, the Department of Public Safety released the accident report for the accident outside of Highmore involving Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg:
Ravnsborg Accident Report by Pat Powers on Scribd
In the press conference, they announced that the Attorney General was “distracted,” but also acknowledged that there was no information that something illegal occured:
Price wouldn’t say which direction Boever was walking at the time of impact, but noted that South Dakota law requires pedestrians traveling on roadways without sidewalks to walk against traffic.
Without commenting on the Ravnsborg-Boever case specifically, Price said not all driving distractions merit charges. Distractions by cell phones, for instance, is against the law in South Dakota. But other driving behaviors that can distract a driver from looking at the road aren’t.
Why wouldn’t they release the info about which way Boever was walking, seems like they know the answer and don’t want to release it? My guess is he was walking with traffic and not against it, which is illegal and puts Boever in the wrong.
Driving on the shoulder is illegal. I’d say that is a larger contributing factor in this death. The AG was not driving responsibly. He should resign.
Driving on the should is not illegal unless it is a certain percentage and for a certain distance, as of which we know neither so we can say it was not illegal until more info is released.
Additionally, why is an individual in the dark at that hour walking on the highway anyway?????
So if a person breaks down and walks along the shoulder with a flashlight, they don’t have a right to safety because cars can drive on the shoulder? Imagine if that was your son/daughter. Do you think he should be let go after they run your kid over because he couldn’t pay attention to the road?
Why are Price and Noem holding these press conferences that only create a lot speculation among the public and the media?
Shouldn’t they be waiting until the investigation has concluded before releasing information that can be misconstrued?
Stating that Ravnsborg was driving distracted but not saying what he was doing does not seem like a good idea. Only stating that distracted driving is not necessarily illegal driving after Sneve asked a question also seems like something worth stating prior to being asked about it.
This will be fun watching all the Republicans trying to justify no charges for distracted driving that resulted in a death.
Just disclose what caused the distraction. Why the vagaries?
Release too much too soon and it’s hard to walk anything back. Easier to lie if you don’t need to cover for something said previous.
I have some many questions from this report:
1. When was the blood alcohol test administered?
2. How is drug use unknown?
3. On the 3rd page, why isn’t the box checked where it asks if the accident resulted in a fatality? This one obviously did.
4. What caused the AG to be driving on the shoulder? It looks even almost off the should be the terrible rendition of the accident.
Also, an observation – the awful representation of the action scene actually looks like the individual is walking against traffic, but again, it’s an awful depiction.
Based on this, it looks like it will be swept under the rug and no one will be charged for the unfortunate death of an individual.
Some other questions that may have a bearing on the accident:
1. As I recall, Boever had earlier crashed his car into a hay bale. Was the hay bale in the road? If not, how far off the road was the bale? What caused him to crash into the bale?
2. Boever had gotten a ride home after his hay bale incident. What was his condition at that time? He and his benefactor agreed to take care of the car the next morning. Why did Boever change his mind?
3. A toxicology report on the victim seems to be a prudent response. Why has it not been released yet?
There is no doubt this was an accident that probably could have been prevented. The question is whether what AG Ravnsborg did was criminal or not is something someone with more experience in law and law enforcement than I have to decide. It is rather maddening however that so little is revealed at any one time at these conferences.
Instead of trying to distract people who read this blog and look to victim-shame here. None of these questions, well not seeming malicious, have any bearing on why the AG swerved, drove on the shoulder, and killed someone. Mr. Boever would never have been cited for walking on the shoulder in the state, but since his killer is a state-wide elected official, Duggersd wants to focus on the victim rather than the killer.
Bravo, Duggersd, bravo.
The only relevant questions, are why was Mr. Boever walking on the shoulder, and in which direction.
Maybe he forgot something in his car?
Maybe he wanted to see if he could get it started again?
We’ll never know because he was mowed down with a 2011 family sedan driven by the States AG on the shoulder of the road that evening.
Well, Any, there is an issue of the victim possibly being part of the reason for the accident. It has not been established why he hit a bale of hay. Most bails are well off the road. If he ran into that, why did he? Did he possibly stumble?
There are several things I would like to know about the AG and what happened. What was his distraction, for example. But others have already expressed these things. We have no reason to believe the AG was under any influence of alcohol. I am sure AG Ravansborg has run this through his mind a million times. I try to put myself in his shoes and think about how I would feel.
There are a lot of things we need to know, but to express the victim was “mowed” down is not helpful. But small minds do these kinds of things.
Last Saturday at 7.49pm to be exact, I was at my brother’s house and I had received a call from my cousin Joe. He told me he had accidentally driven his pickup in a ditch and slammed it into a big round bale of hay. And needed me to come get him and give him a ride home,’ he said.
Joe told Victor he crashed his truck into the ditch because he was trying to pick up his tobacco that had fallen on the floor while he was driving and wasn’t paying attention to the road.
Daily Mail
We might not have any reason, but we’ll never know because the process was horribly botched by the local sheriff. And the highest ranking law enforcement officer, obviously did not go through proper protocols.
I try not to put myself in anyones shoes, it keeps me impartial completely.
He was mowed down. What else would you call it when a distracted driver hits a driver on the shoulder and kills him? He was mowed down because he never stood a chance against a vehicle traveling as fast as it was.
While I think the AG is in hot water, I always wonder where the internet commentors got their degree in anything criminal? Especially the Anonymous ones. Facebook Univeristy enrollment us HUUUUGE!
My undergrad and graduate degree at least got me to the point of spelling u-n-i-v-e-r-s-i-t-y correctly, or at least the ability to proofread and give secondary glances at things I type.
I also did take some criminal justices courses during the pursuit of two degrees that stressed, even when there isn’t intent, justice still should be carried out blindly.
He should resign immediately.
The AG clearly lied in the 911 call. Middle of the road? It wasn’t even close to the middle of his lane.
I appreciate the Secretary and Governor attempting to keep us up to date. But, it is clear the investigation is incomplete. It is fair to either the deceased or driver for the Secretary to make comments which are not supported by all the data or not subject to change depending on the completion of the investigation.
I’m totally with you Troy. What are Price and Noem doing up there? The investigation has not been completed and they are creating all kinds of media story lines with half the facts presented.
Ravnsborg is now the headline of distracted driving but we don’t know if it was illegal or legal.
Pretty serious issue to not fully address.
There are still a lot of unanswered questions–I do not like this stuff coming out a piece at a time. Talk about getting tried in the media before we get all the facts.
Where is the actual accident reconstruction?
Where is the toxicology of the deceased?
What direction was the deceased heading?
I agree in concept. But, there were whispers it was being delayed for political purposes. This puts that to rest.
No, it doesn’t. It delays an unpopular “no charges” announcement until after Nov. 3. What a moronic comment.
How long does a toxicology report take? It seems to me if the AG had his blood tested and it the results came back in a day or two, why does it take almost two months for a deceased person’s toxicology report?
The AG didn’t have his toxicology panel taken until at least 24 hours after the accident! Let me wait for your outrage to kick in while also grab a broom for you and Troy to help sweep this under a rug.
All of this is taking way longer than it should and isn’t being done with enough daylight in my opinion.
The difference is at the time of the accident, the authorities were operating under the impression there was a deer that was hit. They do not do a toxicology report for hit deer. When the body was found, then the toxicology was taken. BTW, I believe the panel was taken about 18 hours after the accident.
Also, you seem to be attributing outrage to me. I merely ask a question. Can you give a logical reason the toxicology report for the victim has not been released?
Any time someone is involved in an accident where they hit something, a toxicology panel should be taken.
In this instance, we cannot fully know if the AG was actually under the influence at the time, or if he has a BAC of 0.0 because his BAC was taken long enough after the accident for his body to process any, if there was any, at all.
Huge pieces of information that could have provided for why he was “distracted” since Noem and Price have neglected to tell us that at all.
Tell me the last time someone ran over a deer and they took a toxicology panel based upon that information only? Had he had the smell of liquor or something else, then yes, but there was none. Testimony has shown he only drank sodas while at the function as is his custom. It was not until the next day that it was established he had hit a person. I do not know whether he knew he hit a deer or a person, but I have not seen anything that would tell me he knew it was a person.
You do realize they have contracted out all physical aspects to entities not associated with the State of South Dakota, in particular the AG’s office. And, because the AG is directly involved, I’m sure they are being extra judicious and diligent on every detail.
We should be praising them for being thorough and not rushing anyone to make a judgement or conclusion. Both the victim and the driver deserve their fair day in court. Nothing more or nothing less.
To be clear, I do not want a single thing swept under the rug. I want full and complete information when it is available for full review by both sides and the public in complete context of the facts and the law. I will make MY personal view at the time. Today, I have none.
Complete context is what is missing here from our states DPS.
Drip, drip, drip is not a way to run an investigation.
But it is a very effective way to get rid of someone who has become a distraction and liability to the party.
True statement. It looks like she wants to make an appointment.
I’m not impressed by the administration’s handling of the investigation. I’m guessing the states attorney in Hand County who has to weigh charges she can win on is wondering why they are handling a high profile case in such a manner.
The victim and mr. Ravnsborg have rights. They should be treated respectfully.
The crash report clearly has errors in it.
It says it is unknown if the AG was using drugs while saying he had zero alcohol but at the last press conference they gave us the toxicology for both!
The skid marks that came out immediately after the crash showed he was on the road and then angling off onto the shoulder… the diagram makes it look like he was driving down the shoulder and hit him in the ditch.
Then I agree how do you only selectively put out information? Then not before the toxicology or the reconstruction comes in. Seems very irresponsible to me….
The skidmark photos show him clearly on the shoulder. I believe his driver side wheels were in the roadway, but the passenger wheels were not. The diagram is not meant to show the exact positioning. It is only used to indicate that when the pedestrian was struck, both the car and him were on the shoulder. If you look at the argus leader video, you can see where the point of impact is by the paint marks. I’ve been on many fatal scenes and he was outside the rumble strips and we’ll outside of the driving lane.
He should cast his electoral vote tomorrow and then resign. His comments on the 911 call and his statement after the incident casts doubt on his integrity and honesty. He can’t let his behavior cast a shadow over the AG office. I believe he is still a good person who made an honest mistake. He should have owned up to it right away and said he wasn’t paying attention when he drifted to the side and struck the pedestrian. He knew he hit a person and that is exactly why he went back to the scene the following day. He has a conscience and he knew he screwed up. He still has time to make it right but I don’t see how that will happen while remaining in the AG’s office.
Yes he needs to resign. You can’t kill someone and serve in public office – or maybe I should rephrase – he shouldn’t be in public office. I don’t think anybody believes he did this on purpose but if he was on his phone for instance, he was being negligent. You can’t be AG and have this on your record.
Who gets appointed?
DPS looks like they could use a new leader also.
grudznick things it is not until December the 14 when the electoral votes are cast.
I am amazed at the wanna-be Columbos, Charlie Chans, Sam Spades, Perry Masons, and Dicy Tracys we have in the region. With all that talent, there should never be an unsolved case ,,,,, EVER.
He claimed he hit a deer. I believe that claim to have been a lie.
Claimed to hit a deer the next DAY. The night of, he had “no idea” what he hit. That basically admitted distracted driving.
I am thinking when we heard the 911 call, he said he thought he had hit a deer. And I believe that is what he told the sheriff at that time.