GUILTY SD - Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg, involved in fatal car hit and run, Sioux Falls, Sept 2020 *plea *Impeached*

[Snoopster]

Here is a link to a video showing the accident scene and markings along the shoulder of the highway and in the grass slope beyond.

Can someone show me at what point the victim jumped in front of Ravnsborg's car as he was driving down the highway, in his proper lane?

The evidence doesn't show that the victim committed suicide by jumping in front of anyone's car.

Video: See where a fatal crash involving AG Ravnsborg occurred

Why did Ravnsborg's car leave the shoulder and travel down the grass embankment?

How does a victim initiate a collision when he's not on the highway, but on the shoulder? Was he using ESP or some kind of mind control to force Ravnsborg to drive off the highway and onto the shoulder?

Here's a page from the accident reconstruction expert's report. It shows Mr. Nemec being struck when he is off on the far edge of the shoulder, almost in the grass.

Ravnsborg crash: What we know about how it happened | KELOLAND.com

BBM.
Where did you see that he drove down the grass embankment? Perhaps the markings were just markings of car parts from the wreckage?


I wish Keloland.com didn't put up their 'approximate crash scene' diagram, because it doesn't line up with Ravnborg's comments. JR said he found the body on the south side of the road.

 

[Betty P]

BBM.
Where did you see that he drove down the grass embankment? Perhaps the markings were just markings of car parts from the wreckage?


I wish Keloland.com didn't put up their 'approximate crash scene' diagram, because it doesn't line up with Ravnborg's comments. JR said he found the body on the south side of the road.

Is there a more accurate diagram available? There should be something in the public domain that reflects what actually happened. Regardless of what JR said, the police would know where the victim's body was found.

 

[nells]

I thought the interviewers did a good job.

Yes, they did a good job. I was, admittedly, critical of them during the first interview, which did come off as "friendly." I wish, though, that the 2nd investigator had not leaned into the space, blocking JR's face and reactions to the info they were telling him (in interview 2).

If you look at the 2nd half of interview 2, you'll get the sense that the investigators do not believe JR and they are trying to get him to confess. The 2nd guy says, "A part of me believes that you did see something the night before." Unfortunately, JR does not have a conscience.

 

[nells]

I wish Keloland.com didn't put up their 'approximate crash scene' diagram, because it doesn't line up with Ravnborg's comments.

That diagram by Keloland.com was very confusing and I couldn't figure out where the car was in relation to the body or where the debris or flashlight was located. I hope the family's lawyer has invested in a forensic accident scene reconstruction that more fully details the events of the accident.

 

[Betty P]

photos of JR's damaged vehicle: one key photo shows the vehicle sitting in the lane (as opposed to the shoulder) with the police car in the background, give the 'impression' that that is where JR's vehicle was at the time of impact or stoppage. Was this a PR move? I suspect so.

Good point. I also saw that photo and thought it looked "staged". It was clear from the early reporting that LE said the victim was walking on the shoulder of the road and photos showed the same.

 

[nells]

These articles on the South Dakota Standard website are valuable. They have pictures of the cousin, Nick Nemec, pointing out important areas of the crash site. Mr. Nemec also wrote an article published on this site with a list of unanswered questions that I hope the prosecutors pose to JR during the trial.

1) Fatal crash scene near Highmore, SD, offers clues as family seeks to understand why Joe Boever was killed — The South Dakota Standard

The photo of Mr. Nemec pointing at a green dot -- I think this was the point of contact between the car and Boever. (See how the tire tracks continue on from that spot and then to the right?)​

2) Unanswered questions: victim’s cousin Nick Nemec wants more information on fatal crash and changed laws — The South Dakota Standard

List of questions conclude this article by the cousin.​

 

[Betty P]

These articles on the South Dakota Standard website are valuable. They have pictures of the cousin, Nick Nemec, pointing out important areas of the crash site. Mr. Nemec also wrote an article published on this site with a list of unanswered questions that I hope the prosecutors pose to JR during the trial.

1) Fatal crash scene near Highmore, SD, offers clues as family seeks to understand why Joe Boever was killed — The South Dakota Standard

The photo of Mr. Nemec pointing at a green dot -- I think this was the point of contact between the car and Boever. (See how the tire tracks continue on from that spot and then to the right?)​

2) Unanswered questions: victim’s cousin Nick Nemec wants more information on fatal crash and changed laws — The South Dakota Standard

List of questions conclude this article by the cousin.​

Thanks! I remember seeing these. Very helpful.

 

[nells]

JR said he found the body on the south side of the road.

From the South Dakota Standard:
"Joe Boever’s body was found in low grass near the north shoulder of the westbound lane of U.S. Highway 14 on the west edge of Highmore. His cousins Nick, left, and Victor Nemec show where it was in this photo, taken a few days after the Sept. 12 crash.

(BBM)

 

[Snoopster]

From the South Dakota Standard:
"Joe Boever’s body was found in low grass near the north shoulder of the westbound lane of U.S. Highway 14 on the west edge of Highmore. His cousins Nick, left, and Victor Nemec show where it was in this photo, taken a few days after the Sept. 12 crash.

(BBM)

Thanks for this. I listened to JR's explanation of finding the body and I see now that I misunderstood that when he said that he told Tim B to check to the right and he would check to the left, he was referring to east/west rather than north/south. This makes much more sense to me now.

 

[Snoopster]

I'm still finishing up listening to the JR's second interview with LE and think he let something slip.

@ 1:19:20 he was trying to convince LE that he did not know what he hit. He said he simply assumed it was a deer. "I would not expect a man to be walking on the side of the road in dark like he was. I would not think that a person would be out there at that time."

So it seems he just admitted that Boever wasn't walking in the middle of the road, but on the side of the road.

 

[nells]

NEW: Victim Rights vs. Due Process: Boever Invokes Marsy’s Law to Stop Ravnsborg from Getting Medical Records of Man He Killed

An interesting take on Boever's wife's attempt to stop JR from getting access to her husband's medical records.

Short version: Could JR be seeking these documents to (continue to) delay accountability?

 

[nells]

I'm still finishing up listening to the JR's second interview with LE and think he let something slip.

Another, possibly more revealing "slip" is at 1:26:45 - 1:27:08 --

"I guess I was looking -- that direction, I mean, to the right, I was looking, to look at the green Highmore sign. You know, I'm walking and looking, trying to see that sign, to make sure that's the -- and then...

I turn around, and I'm looking into the ditch. So I don't know exactly where I turn around and saw him. I -- I didn't see him! I did not see him!"​

I think this is the most truthful moment in his interview. It comes after about an hour of interrogation and he's likely kinda worn down/stressed about the info he's been getting (the fact that Boever's face came through the window and confirmation that Boever's glasses were in his passenger seat.)

Thus he may have, very briefly, let his guard down.

(And once, again, there is an importance JR attaches to "looking for the Highmore sign," something I also noted in interview 1)

 

[Laughing]

From the article @nells linked:

These legal questions are perhaps not as important as the plain fact that Jason Ravnsborg killed a man and should not be our state’s top lawyer. But we need to answer these questions, so we understand how the rights we have written into our constitution affect due process for all citizens… even SOBs like Jason Ravnsborg.

OOOOhhhhh, I like this Cory Allen Heidelberger, you all know it!

jmho ymmv lrr

 

[Snoopster]

Another, possibly more revealing "slip" is at 1:26:45 - 1:27:08 --

"I guess I was looking -- that direction, I mean, to the right, I was looking, to look at the green Highmore sign. You know, I'm walking and looking, trying to see that sign, to make sure that's the -- and then...

I turn around, and I'm looking into the ditch. So I don't know exactly where I turn around and saw him. I -- I didn't see him! I did not see him!"​

I think this is the most truthful moment in his interview. It comes after about an hour of interrogation and he's likely kinda worn down/stressed about the info he's been getting (the fact that Boever's face came through the window and confirmation that Boever's glasses were in his passenger seat.)

Thus he may have, very briefly, let his guard down.

(And once, again, there is an importance JR attaches to "looking for the Highmore sign," something I also noted in interview 1)

BBM

I believe that his continued emphasis on looking for the Highmore sign is his intentional excuse for not seeing the victim lying right beside the road.

He said he was looking for the sign to confirm to himself that it was Highmore that he just passed through, but that doesn't make sense. He had literally been deciding whether or not to stop at one of the Highmore gas stations only seconds before so he must have already known it was Highmore.

 

[Snoopster]

Interview #2 @1:38:45: "to my credit, if I didn't find him how long would he have laid there?"

So we should all applaud him now. He's a hero!

And then he follow up with the victim card saying that he is under more scrutiny than others because of his position. The interviewer right responded that anyone would have to answer these questions and JR's own staff would have rightly questioned any driver in this situation.

ETA: @1:44:26
Interviewer: did you feel any 'bumps' under your car after impact? (implying running over the body)
JR: No. I just pumped the breaks. (and then he demonstrated violently pumping the breaks...but later said that he didn't actually slam the brakes to the floor, when questioned on his 'technique'. )

 

[mickey2942]

I am wondering why the PSB was not called in to take over this case.

PSB is the Prosecution Services Bureau within the DOJ, which can handle cases when requested by county attorneys because of issues including conflict.

I definitely think that there is and was a conflict of interest here. And the DOJ should have been called in to do the investigation and determination of the charges.

 

[Snoopster]

I am wondering why the PSB was not called in to take over this case.

PSB is the Prosecution Services Bureau within the DOJ, which can handle cases when requested by county attorneys because of issues including conflict.

I definitely think that there is and was a conflict of interest here. And the DOJ should have been called in to do the investigation and determination of the charges.

At least they did call in investigators from North Dakota (and those interviewers did a great job). But then they ignored all of the lies that the interviewers uncovered. So it was all for naught. Now it's back to the home boys. And the prelim (and trial??) are in Pierre, where JR lives, as opposed to the county where the victim lived. And he is only charged with misdemeanors.

We see you South Dakota. We know what you are doing.

ETA: And to think that Kristi Noem was trying to throw him under the bus because of the incredible evidence against him. She should have had more faith in her Republican underlings who can gaslight with the best of them, blaming the victim.

 

[nells]

I am wondering why the PSB was not called in to take over this case.

PSB is the Prosecution Services Bureau within the DOJ, which can handle cases when requested by county attorneys because of issues including conflict.

I didn't know about this group within DOJ. Is it too late to have them investigate the crash? Could the family's lawyer request this?

 

[nells]

OOOOhhhhh, I like this Cory Allen Heidelberger, you all know it!

Yes, and it's because of Cory Allen that we have access to the interviews. The judge had South Dakota Public Safety remove them. Cory copied them before the judge's order and posted them on YouTube.

I think he would make a good Websleuths "local contact" for the trial (if he was interested.)

 

[mickey2942]

I didn't know about this group within DOJ. Is it too late to have them investigate the crash? Could the family's lawyer request this?

I believe that it is when the District Attorney sees a conflict of interest, and requests the DOJ to step in. The DOJ cannot just take over jurisdiction of a case without the consent of the State of SD.

Definitely, I think that local LEO and attorneys are putting their jobs in jeopardy without requesting outside oversight on this situation. I wouldn't do it for my friend...the District Attorney could easily lose his license if someone feels there were ethics issues...of course, probably all of their buddies are in charge of the bar in South Dakota. What a disgusting quagmire of cronyism.