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On Tuesday, two months after the South Dakota House of Representatives voted to impeach Attorney General Jason Ravensborg (R) for fatally running over a man and leaving the scene because he thought he hit a deer, the U.S. Senate convicted him of two counts of impeachment in connection with the 2020 incident
The Senate voted to remove the Attorney General from office and ban Ravnsborg, the first South Dakota official ever to be impeachable, to run for the state.
The first conviction was the death of 55-year-old Joseph Bower on September 12, 2020. The Senate also found Ravensborg guilty of misleading investigators and using his position as a senior state law enforcement official in an attempt to shape the the investigation.
“This man destroyed an innocent South Dakotane,” said Senator Lee Schonbeck, the Senate’s top Republican, in a speech.
Schönbeck also condemned Ravnsborg for refusing to testify in the Senate trial and for not revealing “what the hell he did” on the night of the clash.
Neither Ravensborg’s office nor his private spokesman immediately responded to reports from The Washington Post late Tuesday. Ravnsborg and his lawyer declined to speak to reporters as they left the room after the vote, Argus Leader reported.
Nick Nemek, Bower’s cousin, said the sentence followed a two-year wait.
“Today I had the feeling that a heavy weight had been lifted from me,” the 63-year-old Nemek told The Post in an interview. “When the lieutenant governor hit the hammer on the table and he announced that the Attorney General had been removed from office, it brought me some relief.”
Boever’s widow, Jennifer Moore Bower, did not immediately respond to a message from The Post.
The South Dakota Attorney General said he thought he had hit a deer. The next day he found the body of a dead man in a ditch.
Ravensborg said he was returning home from the GOP to raise funds in Redfield, SD, around 10:30 a.m. that September night when his car crashed into a large figure in the dark. Ravnsborg said he believed he had hit a deer and said he had searched a ditch on Highway 14 with a flashlight on his mobile phone.
“All I could see were parts of my car lying on and around the road,” he said in a statement at the time. The sheriff arrived and inspected the damage, but Ravnsborg said none of them suspected anyone was injured in the crash. Ravnsborg denied drinking on the night of the incident.
The next morning, Ravnsborg and his chief of staff returned to the scene.
“As I was walking along the side of the road, I found Mr. Bower’s body in the grass right next to the road,” Ravnsborg said. “It was obvious that Mr. Bower was dead.”
Shortly after finding the man’s body, he added, he went to the sheriff’s house and announced the new information.
The Beaver family expressed doubts about the history of Ravensborg and expressed concern that it took the authorities nearly 24 hours to inform them of Beaver’s death. Last September, Ravnsborg filed a lawsuit for the wrongful death of Bower’s widow, Argus Leader reported. The terms of the agreement remain confidential.
In August, Ravnsborg pleaded not guilty to two counts of trafficking and avoided jail.
Earlier this year, a group of lawmakers led by U.S. Attorney Will Mortenson (right) filed two articles on Ravensborg’s impeachment after the South Dakota Department of Public Safety published two three-hour interviews between Ravensborg and detectives raising questions about Ravensborg’s behavior. Ravnsborg. Many politicians, including Gov. Christie L. Noem (R), have called for his resignation. But Ravnsborg refused to retire.
Ravensborg, who was ousted pending the outcome of the Senate trial, told The Post in a statement earlier this year that he looked forward to the trial, “where I believe I will be acquitted.”
South Dakota AG forced by critics to resign over new evidence of fatal car accident: “He knew what he hit and lied”
Twenty-four senators voted to convict Ravnsborg on charges of committing a crime that caused someone’s death, barely reaching the two-thirds majority needed. The accusation of abuse was passed by 31 votes, while all deputies voted to ban Ravnsborg from holding a future post.
Later on Tuesday, Noah turned to social media to praise lawmakers’ decision.
“After nearly two years, the dark cloud over the Attorney General’s office was lifted. “Now is the time to move on and start rebuilding trust in the office,” she tweeted.
Nemek said he and his brother shook hands after the “emotional” day of justice for their cousin.
“[Ravnsborg] he will not be able to live his life as chief prosecutor, but he still has his life, “Nemek told The Post. “He can live another life. Joe is dead and Joe will be dead forever. That is the cold, hard truth. “
Katie Shepard and Julian Mark contributed to this report.
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