XPost: alt.fan.states.south-dakota, sac.politics, talk.politics.misc   
   XPost: talk.politics.misc   
   From: string-em-up@latimes.com   
      
   FORT PIERRE, S.D. — South Dakota Attorney General Jason   
   Ravnsborg pleaded no contest Thursday to a pair of misdemeanor   
   traffic charges over a crash last year that killed a pedestrian,   
   avoiding jail time despite bitter complaints from the victim's   
   family that he was being too lightly punished for actions they   
   called "inexcusable."   
      
   Circuit Judge John Brown had little leeway to order jail time.   
   Instead, he fined the state's top law enforcement official $500   
   for each count plus court costs of $3,742. Brown also ordered   
   the Republican to "do a significant public service event" in   
   each of the next five years near the date of Joseph Boever's   
   death — granting a request from the Boever family. But he put   
   that on hold pending a final ruling after Ravnsborg's attorney   
   objected that it was not allowed by statute.   
      
   Ravnsborg said in a statement after the hearing that he plans to   
   remain in office. The plea capped the criminal portion of a case   
   that led Gov. Kristi Noem — a fellow Republican — and law   
   enforcement groups around the state to call for his resignation.   
   But he still faces a likely lawsuit from Boever's widow and a   
   potential impeachment attempt.   
      
   Ravnsborg's statement accused "partisan opportunists" of   
   exploiting the situation and said they had "manufactured rumors,   
   conspiracy theories and made statements in direct contradiction   
   to the evidence all sides agreed upon."   
      
   Noem, in a statement afterward, pushed the Legislature to   
   consider impeachment and said she ordered the House speaker be   
   given a copy of the investigative file. Impeachment proceedings   
   halted in February after the judge barred state officials from   
   divulging details of the investigation. Lawmakers indicated then   
   that they might resume after the criminal case ended.   
      
   The attorney general was driving home to Pierre from a political   
   fundraiser on Sept. 12 when he struck Boever, who was walking on   
   the side of a highway. In a 911 call after the crash, Ravnsborg   
   was initially unsure about what he hit and then told a   
   dispatcher it might have been a deer. He said he didn't realize   
   he struck a man until he returned to the crash scene the next   
   day and discovered the body of Boever, 55.   
      
   Ravnsborg pleaded no contest to making an illegal lane change   
   and using a phone while driving, which each carried a maximum   
   sentence of up to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine. Prosecutors   
   dropped a careless driving charge.   
      
   Ravnsborg didn't attend the hearing — he didn't have to and was   
   represented by his attorney, Tim Rensch. That angered Boever's   
   family.   
      
   "Why, after having to wait nearly a year, do we not have the   
   chance to face him?" Boever's sister, Jane Boever, asked the   
   court. She said "his cowardly behavior leaves us frustrated."   
      
   She said her brother was "left behind carelessly" the night he   
   died. She accused Ravnsborg of running down her brother and then   
   using his position and resources to string the case along. She   
   said he has shown no remorse, and only "arrogance toward the   
   law."   
      
   Jane Boever called the punishment "a slap on the wrist."   
      
   "Our brother lay in the ditch for 12 hours," she said. "This is   
   inexcusable."   
      
   Boever's widow, Jennifer Boever, said Ravnsborg's "actions are   
   incomprehensible and ... cannot be forgiven."   
      
   Rensch pushed back hard on the family's criticism, calling the   
   attorney general an "honorable man." Rensch said Ravsnborg had   
   been consistent from the beginning that he simply did not see   
   Boever. And he noted that the case was "not a homicide case, and   
   it's not a manslaughter case."   
      
   "Accidents happen, people die. It should not happen. No one   
   wants anybody to die," he said.   
      
   Rensch told reporters after the hearing that Ravnsborg had   
   cooperated fully with investigators by sitting down for two   
   interviews and allowing his phones to be analyzed.   
      
   "Basically just take your shirt off and say, 'Here I am, bring   
   it on.' I'll answer anything you've got, and that's what this   
   guy did," Rensch said.   
      
   Beadle County State's Attorney Michael Moore, one of the   
   prosecutors, agreed that the attorney general had been   
   cooperative. He was also satisfied with Ravnsborg's punishment   
   and the crash investigation.   
      
   "Because of who it was and the high profile nature of the case,   
   the investigation was a lot more thorough," he said.   
      
   After a months-long probe led to prosecutors charging Ravnsborg   
   with the three misdemeanors in February, Noem put maximum   
   pressure on Ravnsborg to resign, releasing videos of   
      
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