State AG Killed A Guy... Judge Fines Him $1,000.

The inevitable ending to a botched effort.

The South Dakota justice system has responded to the solemn occasion of sentencing a government official who killed a guy while driving home from an alcohol-laden event with the legalese equivalent of “this is why pencils have erasers!”

Jason Ravnsborg, the attorney general of South Dakota, went to a fundraiser in the middle of the pandemic to auction off a Trump-emblazoned handgun, and on the drive home struck and killed a man. Ravnsborg told the authorities the next day that he thought he’d hit a deer. Authorities countered that the dead man’s glasses were inside Ravnsborg’s car, which is hard to do without seeing the person they’re attached to at some point.

Phone records suggest that Ravnsborg was reading “conservative websites” on his phone at the time of the accident. Ravnsborg took a no-contest plea in light of this behavior and was only fined $1,000.

Well, that’s not all I suppose:

The judge also ordered Ravnsborg to “do a significant public service event” each year over the next five years near the date of Boever’s death, but he put that on hold after Ravnsborg’s attorney objected that it was not allowed by statute.

So he was also ordered to “do the thing politicians naturally do in the course of their jobs” and even that got set aside. He also has to pay assorted court fees to the tune of $3,742.

Jail time wasn’t an option based on Ravnsborg pleading to these charges, but that doesn’t resolve the questions of “why these charges?” and “why allow him to plead here?” From start to finish, no level of the South Dakota justice system seemed to take this man’s death seriously. And that cowardice came to its logical conclusion today.

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The victim’s family plans a wrongful death suit.

South Dakota AG gets fines, no jail time in pedestrian death [NBC News]

Earlier: State AG Who Killed A Pedestrian Suggests It Was Suicide As Opposed To His Scrolling The Internet While Driving
State Attorney General Told Officers He’d Hit A Deer… In Reality, A Man Is Now Dead
State AG Killed A Man And Told Cops He’d Hit A Deer, Will Only Face Misdemeanor Charges
Dead Man’s Glasses Found INSIDE South Dakota AG’s Car


HeadshotJoe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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