Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg's car following the 9/12/20 fatal crash on US Hwy 14. Photo from the S.D. Dept. Public Safety.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) – South Dakota legislators are preparing to act on articles of impeachment against Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg this week, even as his still-ongoing criminal prosecution continues.
The articles of impeachment, which concern the September crash where Ravnsborg struck and killed a man with his car near Highmore, will go before the House State Affairs Committee on Wednesday. If approved, they would head to the full House.
State Affairs will also consider the appointment of a special ten-person committee to consider the merits of the impeachment articles and make a recommendation to the House.
House Speaker Spencer Gosch has already selected the ten people he wants to see on the committee, including Rep. Ryan Cwach of Yankton. Cwach said Ravsnborg’s developing criminal situation could hinder proceedings in Pierre.
“If we’re going to have a public hearing, how is that going to impact the ability to have a fair trial over there?” Cwach said. “Those are things we’re going to have to work through and be mindful of.”
This legal clash came into focus when Gov. Kristi Noem’s administration released videotapes of interviews between Ravnsborg and the North Dakota agents investigating his case.
A circuit court judge ordered the state to take the videos off the internet, saying they and any further documents the state planned to release interfered with Ravnsborg’s right to a fair trial.
Representative Mike Stevens of Yankton, a criminal lawyer, said releasing the tapes was “very inappropriate.”
“Certainly everybody is entitled to be considered innocent until proven guilty,” Stevens said. “In a typical situation you would not have anybody releasing any information whatsoever.”
The impeachment process, if it continues, is expected to take time. The Senate trial can’t start until at least 20 days after the House sends the impeachment articles to the upper chamber.
(Jerry Oster, WNAX, contributed to this report.)
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