What happens to a driver who kills a pedestrian in South Dakota? Well, if the crash happens on an Indian reservation where the federal Department of Justice has jurisdiction, and if the driver is an Indian, and if the woman he killed is a good Christian, he gets charged with involuntary manslaughter, pleads guilty, and goes to prison for two and a half years:
A driver who was intoxicated and killed a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk on the Crow Creek Indian Reservation in South Dakota has been sentenced in federal court for involuntary manslaughter.
Patrick Dion, age 55, of Fort Thompson, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100, and restitution in the amount of $7,126.48 [Bob Mercer, “Fort Thompson Man Sent to Federal Prison for Involuntary Manslaughter of a Pedestrian,” KELO-TV, 2021.08.17].
Note also that it took federal officials only five weeks after the January 14 crash that killed Melanie Ziegler to get a grand jury to indict Dion. The crime for which Dion will spend two and a half years in federal prison is defined in federal law, 18 USC §1112, as “the unlawful killing of a human being without malice… in the commission of an unlawful act not amounting to felony, or in the commission in an unlawful manner, or without due caution and circumspection, of a lawful act which might produce death.” While the case was pending, the court released the defendant but required that he live under curfew from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. at a relative’s house, not leave South Dakota, not possess any firearm, not touch alcohol or drugs, and not drive a motor vehicle. When he gets out on supervised release, he must continue not to touch alcohol or drugs, and he can not apply for any new credit cards or other agreements unless he is in compliance with all conditions of his supervised release.
The distinction between Dion’s case and that of killer Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg are obvious. Ravnsborg killed Joe Boever on Highway 14 on September 12, 2020. Ravnsborg was committing unlawful acts—surfing political websites and using his cell phone while driving—without due caution and circumspection when he smacked his car into pedestrian Joe Boever and dragged the poor man to his death on the shoulder of the road. Over eleven months later, Ravnsborg has not spent one hour in police detention. Ravnsborg remains free to drive around the state campaigning. It took state prosecutors over five months to file three misdemeanor charges against Ravnsborg, charges Ravnsborg continues to fight tooth and nail in court. If the prosecutor, a law school classmate of the defendant, can make the misdemeanor stick, Ravnsborg faces a maximum of 30 days in jail and a $500 fine for each charge.
Patrick Dion and Jason Ravnsborg both killed people with their reckless driving. The justice system has treated them very differently.
The different treatment is theoretically based on the difference in the language of the federal manslaughter statute (as described by Cory’s article), which covers federal property, including reservations, and the language of the SD state statute, which applies on state land. At least that is what Ravnsborg’s state prosecutor classmate would likely argue. Since, in constrast to the SD statute, the federal statute doesn’t require proof of recklessness during the unlawful killing of another person, Ravnsborg dodged the manslaughter bullet.
I note that apparently the defendant in the federal case was alleged to have been under the influence of alcohol, which would have been covered by the SD vehicular homicide statute. Since Ravnsborg was not subjected to a timely blood test or breathalyzer he also was able to dodge that particular state statute.
Factor in Power, Influence, Money and you will find no justice. Always been, always will be.
ONE was drunk, and you’re misrepresenting the facts in the other… so there’s that
Not necessarily who you know it is who thinks the victim is a deer.
Sherlock Matt, which facts were misrepresented?
If you had a BAC of .08 at a crash, within 5 hours your BAC could be undetectable. Ravnsborg was never tested until the following day, whether he drank or not.
Generally, a breathalyzer test can test positive for alcohol for up to 12 hours after consuming one alcoholic drink. The average urine test can also detect alcohol 12-48 hours later. If your BAC is 0.08, it will take approximately 5 hours to metabolize the alcohol completely before you can become “sober” again.
https://www.gabriellawteam.com/how-long-does-it-take-after-drinking-to-pass-a-breath-test/
Yes Matt, one was an intoxicated Indian and the other was white who not only killed a pedestrian, but left the scene of the accident–so there is that!! ( PS. he will always walk free)
Mr. cibvet seems more accurate here than most, certainly more than anyone in Iowa or Nebraska. Few despise Mr. Ravnsborg more than grudznick, but golly geez here guys, Mr. Ravnsborg doesn’t drink. You might as well keep accusing him of crashing into Mr. Boever because you’re sure he was squirming in his seat due to a bad case of subacute regional lymphadenitis on his nether parts.
I can’t fathom how a pathetic excuse for a sheriff can still have job. What an embarrassment. How can you show your face after such a blatant failure to do your job. I bet his ears are burning all the time. How can he keep his certification? He can rot in Hades along with JR and extra special prosecutor/ classmate.
I think a lot more facts of this case will come out in the civil trial unless a settlement is reached before trial.
You’re right grudz, no evidence that Ravnsborg was drinking…just cavorting about in his own fantasy world when he struck down Boever. The sheriff should have tested him but then he also should have found the body that night. He was more focused on helping Ravensborg get back to Pierre, I guess. The whole affair reeks of ” neighborly incompetence” by a small town police officer and a public official trying to BS his way through an investigation.
I don’t care whether Ravnsborg drinks or not, no ordinary citizen would have been given until the next day to get checked for drugs/alcohol. Shoddy police work and because the perp is the AG of the state, it should have been more imperative to cover all the bases in an investigation at the scene of the crime.
Too many high profile government agents get velvet glove treatment in the manure pile of South Dakota politics. As we have seen on the national scale, magats couldn’t investigate and find their own butts with either hand.