Impeachment prosecutors: S. Dakota AG lied about fatal crash

By STEPHEN GROVES
Associated Press

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — Prosecutors at the impeachment trial of South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg say he lied to investigators and abused the power of his office after he struck and killed a pedestrian. They are seeking conviction on a pair of impeachment charges that would mean automatic removal from office. Ravnsborg’s attorneys countered in Tuesday’s opening statements that such an action would improperly undo the will of voters for what Ravnsborg has maintained was an accident. Ravnsborg struck and killed 55-year-old Joe Boever in September 2020. Ravnsborg told a 911 dispatcher that he was in the middle of the road and might have struck a deer, and has said he didn’t know he hit a man until the next day. Criminal investigators said they doubted some of his statements.