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The South Dakota Senate convicted Attorney General Jason Ravensborg of two charges in the impeachment trial on Tuesday, removing him from office and preventing him from holding office in the future.
The impeachment stems from a car crash in 2020 in which Republican Ravnsborg fatally hit a man with his car. On the night of the crash, he said in a call to 911 that he thought he had hit a deer or other large animal, and did not know he had hit a man until the next day.
“There is no doubt that this is a lie,” said Republican Sen. Lee Schonbeck. “This man ran over an innocent South Dakotane.”
Clay County Attorney Alexis Tracy, who led the prosecution team, agreed, saying Ravensborg “absolutely saw the man he hit in the aftermath.”
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This man was Joseph Boever, 55. Ravensborg reached an agreement with Bower’s widow in September after she threatened to sue. The terms of the agreement have not been announced.
Ravnsborg was charged with two traffic violations after the incident, and he pleaded not to challenge both, receiving $ 500 fines for each. The state senate convicted him of committing a crime that caused someone’s death and abuse. Prosecutors accused Ravnsborg of using his position “to set the tone and gain influence” in the investigation and of making “false allegations and outright lies”.
Jason Ravnsborg, Attorney General of South Dakota, speaks at a press conference before the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, Monday, September 9, 2019 (Andrew Harrer / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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Ravensborg’s lawyer, impeachment expert Ross Garber, told the South Dakota Senate that removing the attorney general would be “revoking the will of the electorate.”
Gov. Christie Noem will now elect Ravnsborg’s deputy, who will serve until a new attorney general is elected in November and then take the oath.
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“After nearly two years, the dark cloud over the Attorney General’s office has been lifted,” Noem tweeted Tuesday night. “It’s time to move on and start rebuilding trust in the office.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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