The impeachment Special Session will run into the regular 2022 Session of the South Dakota Legislature. After three more hours of secret discussions than expected, the House Select Committee considering impeachment of killer Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg announced that it will meet again on January 17. That’s six days after the 2022 Session opens in Pierre. (It also happens to be Martin Luther King Jr. Day, on which holiday the Legislature will not meet.)
When the committee reconvenes in January, it expects to hear from five subpoenaed law enforcement officials involved in investigating Ravnsborg’s grisly killing of Joe Boever on September 12, 2020:
The panel has issued five subpoenas for people to testify before the panel. The committee will meet again on Jan. 17.
The subpoenas were issued for Craig Price, the Department of Public Safety secretary for South Dakota, and other witnesses who worked at the crash scene and subsequent investigation.
They will be called to testify on either January 18 or January 19, Representative Mike Stevens said.
Others are Jeramie Quam, North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation; John G. Daily, Jackson Hole (Wyoming) Scientific Investigations; Joe Arenz, North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation; and John Berndt*, South Dakota Highway Patrol [Perry Groten and Bob Mercer, “Committee Issues Subpoenas for Its Ravnsborg Impeachment Study,” KELO-TV, 2021.12.29; updated 2021.12.30].
Recall the Secretary Price has said that the evidence gathered in the investigation would have supported filing manslaughter charges against Ravnsborg, who instead got off with misdemeanor traffic charges.
The committee is also subpoenaing documents from the South Dakota Department of Public Safety, North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Jackson Hole Scientific Investigations, and the Hyde County State’s Attorney’s Office.
One person not on the subpoena list who should be: the tow truck driver who came in the middle of the night to remove Ravnsborg’s damaged car from the side of Highway 14 and, like Ravnsborg and Sheriff Mike Volek, somehow did not notice the pale corpse and the lit flashlight along the side of the road.
*Correction 2021.01.03 06:29 CST: KSFY reporter Austin Goss’s tweet of a document from the House Select Committee lists Trooper John Berndt among the subpoena-ees. KELO-TV originally reported (and I copied) the name as Jon Bierne. KELO-TV and I both subsequently edited that text to properly report the name on the original document from the committee.
Travesties of justice in the South Dakota Republican Party are as commonplace as coronavirus so the military should drum Ravnsborg from the service because that’s the only authority he even recognizes.
He is undeserving to be paid by the taxpayers for the rest of his life with his pension from the military, as are any that partook of trump’s “raid” on our Capitol in DC. Strip them all.
Do you think they finally noticed that Ravnsborg got a pass on driving at high speed, mutilating & killing a man who was carrying a flashlight, followed by a pretty serious attempt at covering the whole thing up by the local sheriff and perhaps others?
I have found it amazing that Mr. Boever
had a functioning flashlight, and for some
unknown reason , the Hyde Cty. Sheriff
Didn’t use his spotlight to fan the ditch after the impact.
If he didn’t have a spotlight, he was the only Sheriff in the country without one.
Smoke and mirrors is the trick of clowns in the circus or the inept inbred Republicans in Pierre. Do people really think the Republicans will railroad one of their finest out the door in 2022? More like he will be elected again as his kind are the poster face of the party in charge in Pierre.
To show the appearance of doing something while waiting to do nothing is in motion.
The clown show will be getting underway in a few short weeks ending around the first part of November. Like the weed lawsuit, the decision on the killer AG is written, to be released around the end of spring 2022.
We’ll see how the sparrow flies in 2022. RINO Thune might fly the coop, America’s Governor might jump in the coop waiting for the orange 45 imbecile to ramp up in 2024. The smiling poster Christians in Winner will be “brandoning” away since the racist Winner rag gave them a platform and forum. Yep, stupid is what stupid does.
2022 is shaping up to be a watchful year.
What can anyone say? Its been a sham since the beginning. Was he drinking, who knows, the bartender? Hit a deer? I’m sure that the deer was wearing glasses that ended up inside the car. Nobody bothered to find the deer? The flashlight should have helped. At the very least this was manslaughter. Its just sickening. Everything about this wouldn’t have happened to anyone else. You’d be in jail. The leader of the pack gets away with killing someone. Ohhh, we’d better impeach him, it doesn’t look so good, we’d better do something. Now if they don’t impeach him, things will get interesting. If they do, maybe he’ll sue them.
By the time the House Select Committee meets again it will be over 16 months since Jason Ravnsborg killed Joe Boever. If you wait long enough everyone will forget.
Imagine if the roles had been reversed and a hard luck, blue collar working joe like Joe Boever had gone off the road and killed Attroney General Jason Ravnsborg. Imagine if that working joe had been a Native American. Working Joe would be beginning his second year in the state pen.
Mr. Nemec, I would support your run for governor.
Nick Nemec nails it.
I’m afraid the ending has already been writ and they are just mulling time until they close this sordid mess. magats can’t sacrifice one of their own, no matter how bad that waste is.
If the initial collision caught Joe in the windshield, how could it have simultaneously left bone scrape in the rumble strip?
What evidence led investigators to conclude there was no collision in the driving lanes prior to the collision on the rumble strip?
If the collision was on the rumble strip, with the right side of Jason’s car barely over the white line, why did the diagram in the police report show Joe near the north edge of the shoulder and Jason’s car completely outside the driving lanes?
Why did Joe run his truck directly into a bale after driving into the ditch earlier that day?
Evans is trolling again. Don’t feed the troll.
So a single collision tore Joe’s leg off, but it didn’t pull the rest of his body downward? And when the rest of his body tore free, it didn’t tumble over the car? It just slid up the hood and shattered the windshield?
What percentage of Jason’s trip did he spend driving on the rumble strip without noticing the vibration?
Why would he supposedly drift onto the white line at the precise spot where Joe was “walking”?
If Joe was walking upright at the time of the initial collision, as so many seemingly omniscient journalists have relentlessly claimed, how did investigators explain the damage to the passenger side mirror?
Is this really a correct grammar thing, Mr. H? I know you are the grammarian and a French and English scholar, and poor grudznick is but a consumer of the languages shoved down my maw, but:
Mr. H said:
Mr. Evans, are you free for a quick beverage tomorrow night? Can you suggest a location outside of where the Five 5 gees are melting minds in Spearfish, as I can have a fellow drive me up there around dinner. The SteerFish joint any good? It seems outside of the range of the 5 gees.
Just to be clear, Mr. Evans, grudznick would not turn down a fried bacon chow down as we drink our quick beverages. They have fried bacon at that place so it seems almost like we should try that. I have a hat that protects me, so do not worry about the Five Gees on my account.
RST, the House Select Committee is moving a bit too tentatively, but I take hear tin seeing that the first five individuals they have subpoenaed are all law enforcement, the individuals other than Ravnsborg who have the best knowledge of the evidence in this case. Significantly, they are asking to hear from Secretary Price, the public official who has stated that the evidence supported manslaughter charges. They are also asking for testimony from Joe Arenz, one of the cops who was in the room interrogating Ravnsborg and telling him they found Boever’s glasses in Ravnsborg’s car. Arenz also interviewed Sheriff Volek and Ravnsborg’s chief of staff Tim Bormann, two of the only individuals who were at the scene before the state announced it had found a body. Arenz analyzed the blood work, wrote the report on Boever’s belongings found at the scene. Quam appears to have taken the crime scene photos.
If I were writing a blog post, I would absolutely want to talk to Arenz, Quam, and Price. The committee is asking the right people to come talk about Ravnsborg’s crime.
Let’s get this straight. Evans is accusing the victim of his own murder and all Grudz can focus on is food and grammar. Deplorable and despicable are the two of you. A man was run over and killed by someone I’m sure you both voted for and would again in a flash.
Impeach Jason!!!!
I’d love to post this outside my house but I’d get shot by about 4 neighbors, 2 of whom should be in jail AND not have guns. But you know how SD is.
Notice that the Legislature is subpoenaing law enforcement investigators to discuss what they actually saw at the scene of Ravnsborg’s crash, not Evans, to talk about what actually happened to a man who was hit by a car going over 60mph on Highway 14.
I think Nick Nemec frames this correctly. It goes to the heart of what is wrong with our injustice system, and our whole system of government. We have a government of, by, and for the elite, the rich, the powerful. It ain’t working for the average Joe.
Evans is clearly off his nut. When anything is struck at over 60 MPH, it explodes on the impact. You see that on the highways when a deer is struck.
The country sheriff is also dead. I sometimes wonder who got the payoff for this. I have never seen law enforcement, twice in my own experience, come upon an accident that they never looked for the animal hit to maybe see if it was still alive, to then put it down if it was.
The guy should’ve gone to jail for this killing.
Happy New Year wishes to you Cory. Hope 2022 goes well for you.
My sources in the Republican killing county are more about hunting accidents and ripping off money to be used for Native children. Not much outside the county boarders.
But, other sources in the bars of SD say smoke and mirrors is the investigation purpose. Now much, if anything, will be done to the poster boy. Even gov 33 is not saying much as she is busy with her new sauna in her one house gated community, that is sometimes used to bitch-out state employees on behalf of broods.
What evidence supports and what the road hog killer was charged with are the play of the inept inbred Republicans protecting their own. Heck a search had to be done to find a lawyer stupid enough to go along with minimizing the incident. A class mate to-boot. What is that Law School producing besides distracted drivers, go along attorneys and dirty trust fund enablers? Dang I graduated from USD with frequent requests asking for support as proof of alumni status.
The entire killing incident was bad. Condolences for the family losing a loved one. Not too surprised of the charges (there could have been none). The plea and penalty was another Republican smoke and mirrors move. As many of “us” in SD know, if the driver was a Native person, his/her unlawful premeditated killing of a person prison sentence would have started 15 minutes after reporting the deer/human collision incident.
The one inept inbred political party of leadership in Pierre and Washington DC has benefited a few in the near term but hurt the state in the long run. Don’t get me started on the ass wipe family in Winner with their Xmas message to all and to all go Brandon yourself… I like the English language as you can replace a 4 letter word with a name and fools buy into it.
To end this Brandon up response… remember some, if not all, but enough, cops, lie.
Much like the Mitchell city police, KELO-TV seems to have altered its report without noting any correction. The committee has apparently subpoenaed John Berndt, not state homeland security director Jon Bierne.
https://siouxcityjournal.com/news/state-and-regional/former-watertown-officer-sues-city-police-chief/article_91f1f898-0787-5b1d-ba1a-739849ccab8a.html
“jerry” writes:
My father died in July 2001 after his motorcycle struck a deer on the highway at over 60 MPH. My understanding is that the collision dislodged some of the deer’s abdominal organs but didn’t tear off any of its limbs.
Thanks to christianists who drape themselves in self-righteousness is why catholic Ravnsborg will walk free.
Sanctus, Sanctus Sanctus.
Evans, your pa had a motorcycle to protect his body from the impact. A motorcycle is smaller than a full size vehicle. Even you should be able to see the difference in size. Take your meds.
“jerry” writes:
I’m pretty sure my pa’s most violent and ultimately fatal impact was with the pavement, after the collision with the deer broke the motorcycle’s front wheel, but you seem to be missing my point.
If the initial collision between Joe and Jason’s car caught Joe in the right side of the windshield, and if Jason then slammed on the brakes, Joe’s body probably wouldn’t have rolled off the right side of the car and taken out the passenger side mirror. It probably would have tumbled forward off the hood and been struck a second time. The second impact would be far more likely than the first to have torn off Joe’s leg.
That’s basic physics, and I’m hoping the subpoenaed government investigators are given a chance to publicly explain why it doesn’t apply in this case.
Well, it’s pretty clear selective enforcement is a Republican prerogative in my home state since Denny Sanford is walking free, too. A cynical observer might even see Republican former South Dakota Governor Denny Daugaard’s decision to close two state-owned boot camps as a vehicle to drive kids into the clutches of the Children’s Home Society where he enjoys a financial interest.
No doubt Republican Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg is enjoying similar cover.
Mr. Evans, what is your purpose here? These facts are clear, Jason Ravnsborg was an inattentive driver and drove on the shoulder of US-14, hitting pedestrian Joe Boever as Boever walked on the shoulder, outside the lane of travel. According to the police report and Ravnsborg’s own admission Ravnsborg was traveling 67mph. Boever was killed and left to lay in the road ditch until the next day.
Kurt Evans, “Physics From A Rabbit Hole!” Likely crossed tunnels with resident troll John Dale.
Nick Nemec writes:
It seems to me that Jason may have driven onto the shoulder because Joe had thrown himself into his windshield in a suicide attempt, and it seems to me that the collision on the rumble strip may have occurred after Joe tumbled forward off the hood as Jason was braking.
How do you claim to know Joe was hit as he “walked” on the shoulder? And what do you think he was doing out there in the first place?
No evidence has been presented to support Evans’s alternative hypothesis that Boever threw himself at Ravnsborg’s car. Nothing Evans has said disputes the evidence that investigators have found showing Ravnsborg was driving distracted the whole way up to Redfield and back, that Boever’s head came through Ravnsborg’s windshield, that Boever’s glasses were on Ravnsborg’s seat, that Ravnsborg claimed to hit a deer, and that Ravnsborg and Sheriff Volek and the tow truck operator all somehow managed not to see a stripped white human body and a lit flashlight at the side of the road.
If there were evidence supporting Evans’s claim, why would Secretary Price declare the evidence supported charges of manslaughter?
Note that the House Select Committee is subpoenaing actual investigators who’ve seen the evidence, not Evans, who appears to think this is all a basic physics lesson./
Evans is correct the KELO-TV originally misreported John Berndt’s name in the list of subpoena-ees. Austin Goss’s ealrier tweet of the committee resolution draft lniked above correctly reported the name. I have corrected my error in copying KELO-TV’s original text above.
Mr. Evans, had Joe Boever made a perfectly timed suicide dive into Ravnsborg’s car the most severe damage to Boever’s body would have been on the left side of Boever’s body, not the right side.
Cory writes:
(1) Investigators were unable to account for 78 pills from Joe’s recently-filled prescription of the psychotropic drug Lorazepam, which can cause suicidal ideations.
(2) Joe had disabled his truck by driving it into a bale beside the highway earlier that day.
(3) One of his cousins insisted that Joe check his blood sugar because of his mood that night.
(4) Another cousin said Joe had told him that his preferred method of suicide would be to throw himself in front of a car.
(5) Jason told the 911 dispatcher that he’d hit something in the middle of the road but didn’t see what it was.
Do you know what evidence investigators have found showing those things?
Many explanations are possible. Price seems about as humble and trustworthy as Corey Lewandowski.
Nick Nemec writes:
The most severe damage to Joe’s body probably wouldn’t have been inflicted during his suicide dive into Jason’s windshield. It probably would have been inflicted during the collision on the rumble strip after he tumbled forward off the hood as Jason was braking.
Kurt, I know what evidence the investigators spoke of when they interrogated Ravnsborg.
On what do you base the claim that Price is as untrustworthy as Lewandowski? On what occasions has Price demonstrated his overt human scumminess?
Inability to account for 78 pills is not evidence. Those pills could as easily have been lost anywhere else in Hyde County. Jason may have spotted the pill bottle and taken it home for his own private evidence file.
Driving into a hay bale is not a generally recognized means of committing suicide. Many causes can put a truck in the ditch.
Many people get in sour moods on Saturday night and don’t leap in front of moving vehicles.
“Another cousin said Joe had told him” is hearsay.
The defendant’s statement to the dispatcher that he hit something in the middle of the road and did not say what it was is disputed by all other evidence in this case. Tire marks, blood, and debris point to collision at side of road, in the shoulder; glasses in the car give strong possibility that Ravnsborg say his victim’s face.
Suicide remains a far less plausible explanation than distracted driver hitting pedestrian walking on shoulder.
Cory asks me:
There’s a difference between “seems” and “is”…
I don’t know whether Price is as untrustworthy as Lewandowski, but when he publicly attacked the prosecutors in Jason’s case, he was much farther out of his lane than Jason was after the collisions.
Sure it is.
The Lorazepam bottle was found in Joe’s crashed truck. It was filled with 90 pills on September 11, and the prescription allowed for taking up to three per day. There were 12 left on September 12.
We obviously disagree.
The odds against Jason unintentionally drifting onto the rumble strip at the precise spot where Joe was “walking” are unfathomably long.
Why would Joe have been walking on the ridges of the rumble strip? And what do you think he was doing out there in the first place?
Kurt Evans asks many questions of Joe Boever, but he will never get an answer because
Ravnsborg killed him. Dead people tell no tales,Kurt, only live state attorneys tell tales.
Listen closely. The rabbit hole that you and JD share, is calling you back.
“cibvet” writes:
My questions above aren’t for Joe. They’re mainly for Nick, Cory, and the subpoenaed government investigators.
Don’t feed the troll.
“jerry” writes of me:
I’m not trolling. With Jason braking hard after his windshield shattered, the front of his car would have been angled slightly downward. If Joe’s leg was the first thing to reach the ground as he tumbled forward off the hood, it seems to me that the ridges of the rumble strip would have almost immediately pinned his leg back under the lowered bumper, and that the lowered bumper would have almost immediately pinned it down into the ridges of the rumble strip.
What forensic evidence could possibly prove that’s not what happened? And why doesn’t a single South Dakota journalist seem to be asking?
OK, Mr Evans, I’m not a journalist, but seriously – do you not think someone with slightly more scientific credentials than yours would have run the facts of this case through a pretty fine sieve? I know – we are supposed to distrust anything tainted by “government” hands, but I will still put my trust in competent and qualified professionals. Sorry. I can’t drink your anti-government kool-aid..
Curt writes:
I’m not sure.
I’ve never said that and don’t agree with it.
Will you put your trust in the competent and qualified professional prosecutors who gave clear public explanations of the reasons the evidence in Jason’s case didn’t support a manslaughter charge? Or will you put your trust in the DPS secretary who publicly attacked those prosecutors?
The diagram in the police report shows Joe near the north edge of the shoulder and Jason’s car completely outside the driving lanes. Will you put your trust in the “competent and qualified professionals” who filed the report? Or will you put your trust in the ones who’ve said the collision was on the rumble strip, with the right side of Jason’s car barely over the white line?
The ones drinking kool-aid are the ones who think government agents are infallible.
What forensic evidence could possibly prove Joe was “walking” when he was struck? And what forensic evidence could possibly prove there was no collision in the windshield prior to the collision on the rumble strip?
And why doesn’t a single South Dakota journalist seem to be asking?
Evans asks, “Will you put your trust in the competent and qualified professional prosecutors who gave clear public explanations of the reasons the evidence in Jason’s case didn’t support a manslaughter charge?”
Just to clarify, there has been no public statement by any prosecutor involved that I have seen that agrees in any way with the speculation of Evans I have read in these comments. My recollection is that the prosecutors declined to charge manslaughter because they thought the burden of proving the requisite state of mind for the “recklessness” standard needed for a successful criminal homicide prosecution under current SD statutes and SD case law was too difficult. I may have missed it, but I recall no public “explanation” or suggestion by prosecutors that there was credible witness testimony or physical evidence that this was a suicide.
“bearcreekbat” writes:
Too difficult or impossible. That’s my recollection too. Being distracted and drifting a few inches over the white line wouldn’t have proven “recklessness” under South Dakota law. The prosecutors didn’t even challenge Craig Price’s version of the facts, but he publicly attacked them anyway. Price’s behavior strikes me as, at best, incompetent and unprofessional.
I don’t either. One of the prosecutors even suggested Jason may have been intentionally refusing to tell investigators what had “distracted” him from seeing Joe “walking” on the shoulder with his “beacon” flashlight.
My question for Craig Price remains. What forensic evidence could possibly prove Joe was “walking” when he was struck?
A paid troll? Just like trump used as help from Putin. Evans sounds more and more like he is on the Attorney General paid staff. Here, I thought he was just nuts, but there is a method to his madness.
Mr. Evans, who did not eat at the SteerFish joint tonight, said:
Mr. Price, if he cared to respond to Mr. Evans and I am sure he does not, would probably say:
Mr. Curt, you are righter than right about being #4Science. grudznick is a scientist, and Mr. Eveans is not. These are facts.
I cannot tell from Cory’s story whether Craig Price said the forensic evidence proved Joe was walking or not. The only reference in Cory’s story that I noticed concerning what Price said was that: “Secretary Price has said that the evidence gathered in the investigation would have supported filing manslaughter charges against Ravnsborg.” Apparently Price disagreed with the prosecutor’s assessment of the evidence of Ravnsburg’s state of mind, which under the statute appears to be the only relevant state of mind to the prosecutor’s decision. Had the evidence supported a finding that Joe was not walking, but instead had thrown himself in the roadway in an effort to commit suicide and was struck in the roadway rather than on the shoulder, then a manslaughter charge would have failed because Ravnsburg’s action would not have caused the death, and absent evidence of causation Ravnsburg’s state of mind would need not be considered at all.
As we all apparently agree, however, the prosecutors did not suggest the physical evidence or testimony indicated a suicide by Joe. And as I recollect, the prosecutors did not suggest that there was any evidence that Joe was not walking on the shoulder of the road when struck by Ravnsburg, nor evidence that Ravnsburg did not cause the death. Hence, Ravnsburg’s state of mind became the critical issue for the prosecutors.
One other detail is that manslaughter “charges” require only probable cause, thus are substantially different than a manslaughter “conviction,” which requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt. It appeared to me that prosecutors considered whether they could convince a jury and obtain a “conviction,” not whether a grand jury would have found probable cause for “charging” Ravnsburg with manslaughter. Indeed, to the extent that there even was some exculpatory evidence in Ravnsburg’s favor, prosecutors apparently are not required to disclose such evidence to a grand jury when seeking an indictment “charging” someone with a crime, including manslaughter. Given these additional facts, it seems difficult to question Price’s apparent statement that Ravnsburg could have been “charged” with manslaughter.
As for obtaining a conviction, one can never be sure what a jury might decide, especially given the jury’s right to nullify any law or charge despite legally sufficient evidence of guilt.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_nullification
My question for Craig Price remains. What forensic evidence could possibly prove Joe was “walking” when he was struck?
Let’s try deductive reasoning, Kurt,. (whatever that is) At the time of Joe Boever’s death he did not have wings or a cape. Therefore we can eliminate him flying.
There was not bicycle, roller skates, skateboard or any type of wheeled apparatus in the vicinity, therefore, we can rule out riding.
Mr Boever was not drenched in sweat as he likely would have been had he been running.
Had Mr Boever been on all fours it is highly unlikely he would have made contact with Ravnsborg’s windshield. His torso likely would have immediately gone under the right front wheel.
So, I ask, what other mode of motion is left?
“jerry” asks about me:
If I were being paid, I’d be a shill, not a troll. I’m neither.
“bearcreekbat” writes:
The crash report at the DPS website explicitly and unconditionally declares that Joe was “walking” on the shoulder, and Price’s published letter to Speaker Gosch explicitly and unconditionally declares, “This investigation was done correctly by all involved.”
What forensic evidence could possibly prove Joe was “walking”?
“mike from iowa” writes:
When investigators arrived the following day?
(1) Diving into Jason’s windshield to commit suicide.
(2) Tumbling forward onto the rumble strip as Jason was braking.
How much ya gettin troll? Will the republican take you back under their wing for being such a tool with your trolling? That will be your hope
Accident reconstruction experts are normally used by defense attorneys and insurance company lawyers and part of the investigative team, especially where someone has been injured or killed and the defendant could face criminal charges and the insurance company could face a large judgment of damages. Did the accident reconstrontion expert or experts presumably employed by Ravnsburg’s criminal defense attorney and Ravnsburg’s insurance company contend the DPS report was mistaken about the cause of the collsion? If so why have such exculpatory finding never been released to help clear Ravnsburg and avoid civil liability, especially since damage awards or settlements are typically substantial in wrongful death cases? It seems reasonable to infer that those investigations have never been released because they concluded that the physical “evidence” fully supported the DPS investigative findings that Joe was walking on the shoulder of the road when hit.
Jerry, I am confident Kurt is not being paid by anyone nor seeking to curry favor with anyone. His quixotic and baseless attempt to exonerate Jason Ravnsborg and blame Joe Boever arises entirely from his own thinking. A guy can be just as wrong on his own without any connection or hope of compensation from the SDGOP machine.
I appreciate BCB’s pint: Ravnsborg’s settlement with Boever’s family strongly signals that there is no evidence to support Kurt’s thesis. if Ravnsborg escapes impeachment, it won’t be because the evidence convinces the Legislature that he didn’t kill a man through his own negligence; it will be because Republicans refuse to hold Republicans accountable.
Cory writes:
Is Jerry that commenter’s real name?
“bearcreekbat” asks:
I don’t know.
I’ve never said there’s “exculpatory” physical evidence. Maybe they settled out of court because they weren’t sure they’d prevail in a high-profile lawsuit and didn’t want to be perceived as “smearing the victim” and tormenting his widow.
If Ravnsborg’s own investigators had concluded that the physical evidence fully supported those DPS findings, why would he ever have raised the issue of Joe’s mental health?
What forensic evidence could possibly prove Joe was “walking” on the shoulder with his “beacon” flashlight before the crash? It seems to me that he could have switched the flashlight off as he crouched by the road and switched it back on as he ran onto the road, but I’d like to know why investigators would say it couldn’t have been switched back on by the crash and its aftermath.
Cory may be confident, but for me, I am not. Clearly, you’re getting something for the troll. Maybe not money, but you can’t be that dumb…or maybe, just evil? BTW, jerry will do for right now, savvy?
“jerry” writes to me:
Okay, “jerry”…
I’d strongly suspected suicide based on the 911 audio alone, before I knew about the awful year Joe’d had, or the awful day he’d just had, or his forensically verified psychotropic drug overdose that day. If investigators want to explicitly and unconditionally attribute the crash to a “distracted” driver and a mind-bending freak coincidence, it seems to me that they should have the support of overwhelming evidence.
I’ve suggested that the initial collision may have caught Joe in the windshield, and that the collision on the rumble strip and front bumper may have occurred after he tumbled forward off the hood as Jason was braking. The government investigators have said the collision in the windshield deposited a pair of Joe’s eyeglasses into Jason’s car. They presumably agree with me that Joe’s leg was most likely torn off by the collision on the rumble strip and front bumper.
The government investigators explicitly and unconditionally conclude that the collision in the windshield hadn’t occurred before the collision on the front bumper. If we believe their conclusions, it seems to me we have to believe that the collision on the front bumper was violent enough to separate Joe from his right leg, but that it wasn’t violent enough to separate him from his glasses.
I’d be glad to hear other people’s opinions, but that strikes me as extremely unlikely or impossible.
Mr. Dale, you are an amazing “forensic” investigator over the blogs.
Note that grudznick likes to use the word “forensic” because many bloggers on this blogging place overuse that word, but in this case I really do feel that Mr. Dale is probably the best “forensic blogger” on here on the internet.
See you for some Steerfish fried bacon on Friday evening, Mr. Dale? If you get there before me, just order me the usual.
Attorney general kills because of inattentive driving. Light charges. Lighter plea deal, no jail time. Ultra slow motion impeachment.
This is the injustice.
Two standards. One for Republicans. One for everyone else.
The whole government has to be dismantled and reassembled.
This will be done sometime in the future when a strong center left or Progressive Party resolves to take power, permanently.
This won,t happen under the current Democrat Party leadership,
Read Harvey Wollmans interview in the Mitchell Republic. According to him, the Democratic Party lost HALF its support during 1978 and 1979!
So the Democratic Party has been dead (statewide offices and legislatively). Since 1978!
Rapid City and Sioux Falls are now Republican.
Wollman’s thinking is right on the money.
Since the Democratic Party now is unwilling to rebrand itself, rededicate itself to the people, rethink its strategy, it will lose races by default far in the future.
Only a 4th Party will be able to do this.
Corey, you should post polls on this blog.
One question I’d like to ask-
Do you believe in the next 50 years, Democrats or Progressives will be able to win—
Poll answers
No, Republicans own the state.
Yes, some of the time
Yes, a few times only
Democrats will win
Progressives will win
A party other than Republicans will dominate, but not the Democratic Party. X
I would choose the last answer. I am probably one of maybe 5% that would vote that way.
Joe Boever’s life was taken by a Republican officeholder who was neither jailed nor put out of office. Justice?
We are part of the United States. South Dakota is a state, not an excuse to allow this to keep happening.
To get to the 2022 elections and beyond, we have to go back to the 1970s. This state is a goldmine of opportunity, justice and people living harmoniously. We just have to start seeing and believing it that way.
“ABC” writes:
The attorney general’s car killed because a pedestrian overdosed on psychotropic drugs, left town on foot after dark, and depending on who’s reconstructing the crash correctly, either walked within inches of the white line as the car was approaching or ran across it.
Mike Lindell is back as Evans, More pillow guy stuff and just as nutty.
“jerry” writes:
The government investigators have said the collision in the windshield deposited a pair of Joe’s eyeglasses into Jason’s car. If we believe their explicit and unconditional conclusion that there was no suicide dive into the windshield before the collision on the rumble strip and front bumper, it seems to me we have to believe that the collision on the front bumper was violent enough to separate Joe from his right leg, but that it didn’t pull the rest of his body downward and wasn’t violent enough to separate him from his glasses.
Does that scenario seem likely to you, “jerry”? Does it even seem possible? How do you explain the damage to the passenger side mirror? Why would Joe have been walking on the ridges of the rumble strip? What do you think he was doing out there in the first place? Why do you think the diagram in the police report shows him near the north edge of the shoulder and Jason’s car completely outside the driving lanes?
What forensic evidence could possibly prove Joe was “walking” when he was struck? And what forensic evidence could possibly prove there was no collision in the windshield prior to the collision on the rumble strip?
And why doesn’t a single South Dakota journalist seem to be asking?
Mike Lindell a.k.a., EVANS what a couple. They even look alike. Evil and silly, what a combo.
“jerry” writes:
That’s a lovely compliment for Lindell, but If you believe the government investigators’ explicit and unconditional conclusion that there was no suicide dive into the windshield before the collision on the rumble strip and front bumper, and that Joe was “walking” upright when he was struck, how do you explain the damage to the passenger side mirror?
You should know, but if you believe that Joe was “walking” on or very near the white line, and that the initial collision occurred on the rumble strip, why do you think the diagram in the police report shows Joe near the north edge of the shoulder and Jason’s car completely outside the driving lanes?
Mike Lindell, a.k.a. EVANS and more silly pillow talk, what a couple. Evil, Wicked, Mean and Nasty. Twins for sure. They blather the same nonsense.
Mr. ABC, my old buddy The Harv has it righter than right. He was, you know, at the helm of the Democrat Party during those times, and he was more a Conservative with Common Sense than many Republicans today. The Harv and old grudznick get along just fine, and I’ve been thinking of having him speak at the Conservatives with Common Sense Breakfasting one of these days if he ever gets out to Rapid City. Perhaps his daughter will drive him out this way soon.
Tomorrow the debates will be about the SCOTUS vaccine decisions and they will be lively.
“jerry” writes:
If you believe the government investigators’ explicit and unconditional conclusion that there was no suicide dive into the windshield before the collision on the rumble strip, how do you explain the damage to the passenger side mirror and the eyeglasses inside the car?
If the right side of Jason’s car was barely over the white line during the collision on the rumble strip, why does the diagram in the police report show Joe near the north edge of the shoulder and Jason’s car completely outside the driving lanes?
Pillow talk, with Mike Lindell a,k.a. EVANS, Evil be thy name.
“jerry” writes:
Lindell strikes me as a fake Christian and dangerous sociopath, but when a pillow salesman claims he has the evidence to put a political adversary in prison, that concerns me much less than when a law enforcement officer makes the same claim.
The crash report at the DPS website explicitly and unconditionally declares that Joe was “walking” on the shoulder, and Craig Price’s published letter to Speaker Gosch explicitly and unconditionally declares, “This investigation was done correctly by all involved.”
What forensic evidence could possibly prove Joe was “walking” when he was struck?
Pillow talk, with Lindell a.k.a EVANS. You two, what a crew. Two lying liars with too much time on your hands. Evil and more evil, kind of like the Romulus and Remus. Which one is EVANS? We all know what happened to Remus….
“jerry” writes:
Probably neither, but the Bogus Misleader just published an article under the headline, “Autopsy photos, cellphone forensics won’t be part of Attorney General’s impeachment record”:
https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/2022/01/17/south-dakota-house-committee-continues-redacting-attorney-general-jason-ravnsborg-impeachment-record/6528935001/
So far I’m not seeing anything in the body of the article that supports that headline.
Pillow talk Mike Lindell a.k.a. EVANS. Speaking of a bogus misleader, that be you EVANS or should I say, Remus. EVANS, a.k.a. Lindell, full or offal,
“jerry” writes:
You probably shouldn’t.
It had been my understanding that one of the investigators from North Dakota told Jason they knew the initial collision was on the shoulder because they’d found bone scrape in the rumble strip. After today’s testimony, it’s apparent that they’re saying the initial collision was near the outside edge of the shoulder, and I’m wondering whether any of the bone scrape was actually in the rumble strip(?).
It seems to me that Jason probably didn’t see Joe’s suicide dive onto his hood because he was looking down at the speedometer as he transitioned out of the reduced-speed zone. Joe’s impact with the right side of the car probably angled it onto the shoulder, and Joe’s body probably tumbled forward off the hood and was struck a second time after Jason reflexively swerved back to the left to keep the car on the pavement.
Maybe the reason it took Jason longer than usual to stop is that he was shocked and scared after something seemed to come out of nowhere and shatter his windshield. Maybe he consciously or subconsciously wanted to put some distance between himself and whatever he’d hit.
John Berndt says Joe’s “beacon” flashlight was around three or four inches long.
I’d still like to know why investigators would say it couldn’t have been switched back on by the crash and its aftermath.
Mr. Dale, the 5 gees have clearly fried your brain, as you feared.
There was no dive. The evidence is, and I quote an expert, “99% or more” that Mr. Ravnsborg had not just his right side tires outside the rumble strip, the goofball General Attorney elected over much more competent fellows, had both, BOTH the right and left side tires of his car over the ruble strip and for a long stretch.
Your man is toasted like a sour dough and raisin biscuit, and the overgodders on the panel who are trying to defend him will pay their prices at the election booths as well.
The uniformed law enforcement fellows really cooked a marshmallow roast under Mr. Ravnsborg tonight.
Please keep your tinfoil 5 gee hat liner in place, as grudznick fears for your mental health.
Evil EVANS, the tinfoil cap wearing fakey christian. Nutier than a damn old fruitcake, just like his pillow talk twin.
Ravnsborg was nearly in the ditch, barely hit his brakes after striking Joe Boever and was distracted by something: maybe porn on his phone and it was all covered up by the Noem administration. Ravnsborg is a sociopath who should follow Rich Benda and Eric Westerhuis on their paths into South Dakota history.
https://listen.sdpb.org/politics/2022-01-18/impeachment-committee-hears-attorney-general-was-almost-into-the-ditch-at-point-of-impact
I’d written:
Using Berndt’s own numbers, it took less than five seconds for Jason to regain control of the car and begin braking. I totaled a car in a collision with a large black calf east of Winner in 2001 and didn’t stop at all until I reached an intersection that was well over 614 feet from the crash site.
“grudznick” writes:
No such “long stretch” appears to be supported by the physical evidence. The government investigators say Jason’s car moved back into the driving lane after the collision on the shoulder before he pulled over and stopped.
Larry Kurtz writes:
The investigators have explicitly and repeatedly conceded that Jason’s phone was locked well before he entered the bright lights of the Highmore junction, and that it wasn’t unlocked until he came to a stop after the collision and immediately called 911. Maybe he was “distracted” by a shattered windshield and a violent prior collision that angled his car sharply onto the shoulder.
Yes, he was nearly in the ditch, and I’d like to know why the investigators would say a “distracted” driver inches from the edge of the pavement wouldn’t have been angled into the ditch by a massive impact on the extreme right side of the front bumper.
grudznick wrote:
Mr. Evans typed something like:
OK. See you Saturday.
I’d replied to “grudznick”:
“grudznick” writes to me:
You seem to be changing the subject.
The Daily Beast has published this article by Tom Lawrence:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/south-dakota-ag-jason-ravnsborg-seemed-to-know-he-killed-a-man-with-his-car-agents-say-at-impeachment-hearing
If Jason had seen Joe’s body in the grass and plotted to claim he hadn’t seen it, why would he have told the government investigators about his search for whatever he’d hit?
If Jason had seen Joe’s body in the grass and plotted to claim he hadn’t seen it, why would he have told the government investigators about his search for whatever he’d hit?
In legal parlance, that is known as covering yer ass!
I’d asked:
“mike from iowa” replies:
If Jason had been “covering” by trying to persuade the investigators that he hadn’t seen the body, and if he knew that the body could have been seen from the road, why would he have wanted the investigators to know that he’d done the search?
Mr. Evens, can’t you comprehend what you read? “mike from iowa” told you he was covering his ass and he is spot on.
Ravnsborg made the decision to let the responding officer “find” the body, therefore he didn’t tell Sheriff “Barney Fife” Volek about the body he had just seen. When Volek showed no interest in even walking back through the crash scene Ravnsborg’s goose was cooked, he could not then tell Volek he had seen a body in the ditch back there.
Mr. Evans, it seems more and more like Mr. Ravnsborg, who has always been inept, likely the ineptest of all Attorneys General our fair state has ever seen, is a liar and bigger douche than even grudznick assumed. Also, young Mr. Gosch, who has no spine, will keep slow-walking this until Mr. Jackley kicks Mr. Ravnsborg’s plump inner buttocks at the conventions.
Mr. Evans, grudznick needs to be clear here: the plump inner buttock kicking is a figurative term, not an actual visual term intended to pseudo-arouse you. You have your grudznick calendar for that.
Nick Nemec writes:
It depends on what I read.
How did telling the government investigators that he’d searched for what he hit supposedly help to persuade them that he hadn’t seen it?
Mr. Evens, Ravnsborg isn’t that bright, very little about his story holds up to scrutiny.
I’d asked Nick Nemec:
Nick replies:
Are you bright enough to spell my name correctly?
If Jason had been “covering” by trying to persuade the investigators that he hadn’t seen the body, and if he knew that the body could have been seen from the road, why would he have wanted the investigators to know that he’d done the search?
EVENS, still nutier than a damn fruitcake. Ravnsborg was incredibly selfish, like this turd https://news.yahoo.com/cop-fatally-struck-nurse-actions-120208631.html
Mr. Evans, I apologize for spelling your name wrong. I always try to own up to, and make amends for, my mistakes and that was a stupid one. I will be more attentive in the future.
Nick Nemec writes:
It wasn’t stupid. Intelligent people often misspell my name that way, but thanks for the apology.
If Jason had been “covering” by trying to persuade the government investigators that he hadn’t seen the body, and if he knew that the body could have been seen from the road, why would he have wanted the investigators to know that he’d done the search?
I’d written:
That article quotes investigator Arnie Rummel:
Rummel doesn’t seem to understand that the blood had many hours to drain out of the body before he arrived on the scene, and that the body probably wasn’t “all white” and “reflective” in the immediate aftermath of the crash. Plus the body was in the grass, and there’s no public evidence that any of the countless drivers who passed it overnight, most of them presumably with high-beam headlights, noticed it at all.
I’d like to know Craig Price’s opinion of Rummel’s “reasoning”…