Nearly a week after the South Dakota Attorney General was charged with three felonies for fatally beating a pedestrian on a highway last year, the South Dakota governor called for him to resign and released investigative interviews detailing the incident described, and state legislatures have begun impeaching. proceedings against him.
Jason Ravnsborg, 44, was charged with driving a motor vehicle while using a mobile device, lane violation, and careless driving as a result of the September 12 crash. Ravnsborg was not on his cell phone at the time of the impact, but was outside the lanes, prosecutors said when he saw the 55-year-old victim, Joseph Boever, on U.S. Highway 14, about a mile west of Highmore. hit. , South Dakota. The accident did not meet the conditions for manslaughter, they said.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem called on Ravnsborg to resign after Tuesday’s allegations.
“Now that the investigation has been completed and charges have been filed, I believe the attorney general should resign,” she said in a statement.
Noem also released two interviews on Tuesday, totaling more than three hours, that law enforcement officials conducted with Ravnsborg in the days and weeks following the fatal incident. The governor said she viewed the material and “encouraged others to check it out too.”
During the interviews, Ravnsborg reiterated that he did not know what he was hitting the dark highway, but assumed it was a deer “because what else would be”. He said he called 911 and looked into a ditch with a cell phone flashlight, but only discovered Boever’s body the next day to investigate the debris.
Investigators pressed Ravnsborg to use his cell phone while driving Highway 14 that night. They also told the attorney general that Boever’s broken glasses had gotten into his car and came through the windshield, according to interviews released by Noem.
His face was in your windshield, Jason. Think about that, ”one of the detectives said.
A concerned Ravnsborg replied that “it pains me a lot to hear”.
The researchers also wondered how Ravnsborg could have overlooked Boever and his flashlight, which they said was the next day.
“It’s really hard to miss when you’re out there,” someone said.
In response, Ravnsborg said, “Obviously I’m not as observant as I should be.”
An investigation completed a month after the crash initially determined that Ravnsborg was distracted when he hit Boever with his 2011 Ford Taurus. But last week prosecutors said that Ravnsborg was not a distracted driver at the time of the collision based on an analysis of two cell phones he had with him.
In a statement, Ravnsborg’s spokesman said the attorney general “has no intention of resigning”.
“This issue has never hampered his ability to do the work of the office. Instead, he has addressed some of the biggest settlements and legislative issues the state has ever experienced,” the statement said. “As a lawyer and lieutenant colonel in the army reservations, AG Ravnsborg has fought for the rule of law and personal freedoms and hopes he will receive the same right and courtesy.”
While the state released the videos of the interviews, state lawmakers also began impeachment proceedings against the attorney general. The resolution, filed Tuesday and filed Wednesday on the House floor of the South Dakota State Capitol, contains two articles impeaching and allegations that Ravnsborg is being removed from office “for his crimes or offenses in office involving the death of Joseph. Boever have caused “.
Rep. Will Mortenson, who filed the resolution, said it was “the hardest decision I’ve ever made.”
“My heart breaks for all parties involved in this case, but it was time to do the right thing, even though it is difficult and uncomfortable,” he said on social media.
The resolution is now pending the committee’s first hearing. Ravnsborg’s spokesperson told ABC News that they have not yet been able to view the full document.
Ravnsborg, who was elected in 2018, was not given any administrative leave and continued to work after the crash.
The attorney general has committed a series of previous offenses, according to the state. He pleaded guilty to speeding six times between 2014 and 2018 and paid fines between $ 19 and $ 79, according to state data.
Karma Allen, Joshua Hoyos, Julia Jacobo, Jennifer Leong and Ivan Pereira from ABC News contributed to this report.