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

[Ironhorse 332]

Reading all the posts, I am picturing the sheriff as Chief Wiggum from the Simpson's saying "nothing to see here folks."

 

[Cassady]

I noted that also. If he was hit and went directly into the shield and then bone fragments/DNA/scrape (whatever that is) was found in the rumble... how did he end up so far off the highway?

IMO the victim was initially stuck in the windshield. The pictures of the car are telling, Right-front quarter panel near the headlights is the initial impact, probable about knee height. Victim is then slammed into the hood with his head impacting the windshield. If the victim had not stuck to the windshield, his body would have went up and over the car and probably landed in the shoulder.

There is no proof of that, especially in light of statements made by the victim's family shortly after the incident and based on their viewing of the crime scene. All evidence seems to be in front of the impact point and not behind it.

Thus, IMO after the impact and the defendant came to a stop, the victim was still attached to the car. IMO the defendant then drove the car forward and hit the brakes again, which caused the body to fly off the front of the car, roll on the shoulder and ultimately come to rest in the grassy area. IMO it is during this second event that the glasses fell off and ended up inside the car..probably when the defendant sped up after the collision in an effort to get the body off his car.

At least that is the scenario most favorable to the defendant. If not that, then someone physically removed the body from the car. IMO the victim's body was attached to the defendant's vehicle immediately after impact....IMO.

 

[nells]

Thus, IMO after the impact and the defendant came to a stop, the victim was still attached to the car. IMO the defendant then drove the car forward and hit the brakes again, which caused the body to fly off the front of the car, roll on the shoulder and ultimately come to rest in the grassy area. IMO it is during this second event that the glasses fell off and ended up inside the car..probably when the defendant sped up after the collision in an effort to get the body off his car.

At least that is the scenario most favorable to the defendant. If not that, then someone physically removed the body from the car. IMO the victim's body was attached to the defendant's vehicle immediately after impact....IMO.

Both of your options make sense to me. I was also thinking that someone at some point may have moved the body farther away from the road (so that it wasn't immediately viewable to any one coming upon the scene).

Also, I don't think the victim was wearing the glasses on his face but may have had them in his shirt pocket. We would need to know from family members if the victim usually wore his glasses or regularly had them in his shirt pocket.

 

[nells]

I'm curious... where is the damaged car now? Did the AG have any time -- between the time it was towed to the time police officially searched it -- to clean or inspect the car by himself?

 

[dixiegirl1035]

I'm curious... where is the damaged car now? Did the AG have any time -- between the time it was towed to the time police officially searched it -- to clean or inspect the car by himself?

Egads, never even thought about that. But when he got the Sheriffs car, he had to backtrack a little iirc. So when he left to go back home, he indeed would have again passed by the scene. MOO/IIRC I don't recall and aerial/case map on this thread, but I tend to recall how close the Sheriff lived to the site and him drawing on the table such (there was a confusing discussion of such how he was taking pictures and the Sheriff was behind him taking a pic of the car, yet the Sheriff had pulled his car up BEHIND his car. LE didn't dig as deep into such as I wanted during the interview. MOO

 

[nells]

The Dakota Free Press was one of the websites the AG was visiting right before the accident. This is one of the latest articles on the case Ravnsborg Missed Chance to Block Release of Investigation Videos Because Defense Attorney Was Out of State

The reporter has a number of interesting articles on the case and notes that the sheriff who replied to the 911 call wasn't one of the sheriffs who endorsed the AG when he ran for office in 2018.

 

[nells]

Yes, thinking about Cassady's theories: the way the hole in the windshield looks, the victim could have been stuck for some period of time in the windshield. Not to be gruesome but the lower hole resembles the circumference of someone's head.

 

[Finlay]

Good analysis. They certainly seem very pal-sy for what should have been a forensic interview with a possible suspect in a vehicular homicide or even involuntary manslaughter investigation.

RBBM
I wonder how zealously AG JB may have investigated the case had it been a member of the public or a political rival in the frame. My guess is we'd have seen a few things done differently.

Isn't that kind of a common ploy though? If you were the person asking questions, wouldn't you want to make the person you were questioning feel at ease as you found that opening to slip in the "sneaky" questions? There's a Pacino quote from the movie "The Devil's Advocate" that says "...no matter how good you are, never let 'em see you coming." The interaction between the investigators & the AG seem (to me) to be a case of them trying to loosen him up a little bit & get him to drop his guard. But his reaction to me tells me that he's well aware of what they're doing and thinks he's just playin along. When the questions get a little more detailed, JR (IMO) goes right into a well-rehearsed answer/statement. I have not watched the entire video of the Q/A session yet though either - so maybe there's more interaction between the parties that I haven't watched yet.

 

[BoyThatsWeird]

Yes, thinking about Cassady's theories: the way the hole in the windshield looks, the victim could have been stuck for some period of time in the windshield. Not to be gruesome but the lower hole resembles the circumference of someone's head.

All speculation.

I agree. It's why I thought he went into such detail about his "military training" and knowing you need to punch the brakes several times to control vehicle. I thought it was him trying to get the body off the car multiple times and he thought the skid patterns might indicate that so he gets ahead of why there were potentially multiple hard brakes.

 

[al66pine]

Was Someone w JS?

[/QUOTE] @dixiegirl1035 Thx for the link to the 2+ hr vid. In answering question about whether he was using high beams on driving back post-event, JS said "we." From auto transcript of clip:

"16:22
what you know i shut them down when we
16:23
went through miller and of course in
16:24
redfield"

If someone was w him on his return drive, I missed it, certainly could have.
If someone was w him, was that kept under wraps? What's his marital/dating/
family situation status? I only checked 2 sites, did not see it. AG employee, political cohort, wife, girlfriend, husband, S/O, respectfully who was w him, if anyone? Or was that just a slip of the tongue?
Anyone? TiA.
______________________________________
Meet - Jason Ravnsborg Attorney General for the State of South Dakota
Jason Ravnsborg - Wikipedia

 

[nells]

Better view of the "ditch."

Source: South Dakota's attorney general charged in crash that killed pedestrian | The Mitchell Republic

 

[nells]

From the 2nd interview, around 52:00:

JR: Through the journey, [the phone] fell down a few times.

Pure speculation but: what if, while trying to place the phone down, it "slipped" down to the car's floor on the right side of the car; and, as he is leaning and reaching down for the phone, he also turns the steering wheel towards the right, and hits the victim? He did not "see" the victim until it was too late.

 

[Laughing]

From the 2nd interview, around 52:00:

JR: Through the journey, [the phone] fell down a few times.

Pure speculation but: what if, while trying to place the phone down, it "slipped" down to the car's floor on the right side of the car; and, as he is leaning and reaching down for the phone, he also turns the steering wheel towards the right, and hits the victim? He did not "see" the victim until it was too late.

In college, a friend was slightly injured in an accident. The other driver's very honest statement to the responding officer was:

I looked up from tuning the radio and couldn't stop in time.

Some of you youngsters may not remember car radios this way.

A phone that 'slipped' could certainly reach the floor.

It will be interesting to follow the civil case, indeed.

jmho ymmv lrr

 

[realanastasia]

Oh, for crap's sakes, looks like he might've been reading some conspiracy website just prior to the crash: South Dakota AG May Have Been Reading Right-Wing Biden Conspiracies While Killing Man With His Car

 

[dixiegirl1035]

All speculation.

I agree. It's why I thought he went into such detail about his "military training" and knowing you need to punch the brakes several times to control vehicle. I thought it was him trying to get the body off the car multiple times and he thought the skid patterns might indicate that so he gets ahead of why there were potentially multiple hard brakes.

Totally missed that, good catch. Why would he interject such other to explain that the cars black box will indeed show that he was pumping his breaks. Who does that to normally stop when anyone and everyone knows that ABS will kick in to correct for slamming on the breaks!

Kudos for the !!!!

 

[dixiegirl1035]

Was Someone w JS?

@dixiegirl1035 Thx for the link to the 2+ hr vid. In answering question about whether he was using high beams on driving back post-event, JS said "we." From auto transcript of clip:

"16:22
what you know i shut them down when we
16:23
went through miller and of course in
16:24
redfield"

If someone was w him on his return drive, I missed it, certainly could have.
If someone was w him, was that kept under wraps? What's his marital/dating/
family situation status? I only checked 2 sites, did not see it. AG employee, political cohort, wife, girlfriend, husband, S/O, respectfully who was w him, if anyone? Or was that just a slip of the tongue?
Anyone? TiA.
______________________________________
Meet - Jason Ravnsborg Attorney General for the State of South Dakota
Jason Ravnsborg - Wikipedia[/QUOTE]


I would think that the black box would show if someone was sitting in that seat. Also, didn't he mention that the air bags did not deploy although the photos looked like they had on the passenger side? Can't recall, but that is tickling my memory.

 

[nells]

Rank Speculation: Delay in Manslaughter Prosecution While Ravnsborg Pursues Promotion and Pension?

Wow, a really clear theory on why Ravnsborg hasn’t resigned yet like any normal person with a conscience.

Bonus points for the snark.

 

[nells]

@dixiegirl1035
Or was that just a slip of the tongue?
Anyone?
[/QUOTE]]

Personally, I think it was a slip of the tongue. I’ve never seen a lawyer, especially a lawyer in such a high position, be such a poor communicator.

I also think his stuttering and stammering in the videos was an attempt to make the narrative of what happened as confusing as possible for a later viewer or jury. Every time the investigators try to lay out a linear narrative of what happened, he interjects with some unnecessary information (“I know I put the phone down and pushed the radio button and checked the speedometer.” )

How many times does he think the investigators need to hear that to be convinced?

 

[al66pine]

2003, SD Public Official Driving Caused Fatal Crash. Deja Vu?

Rank Speculation: Delay in Manslaughter Prosecution While Ravnsborg Pursues Promotion and Pension?
Wow, a really clear theory on why Ravnsborg hasn’t resigned yet like any normal person with a conscience.

@nells Thanks for your post w link, prompting me to read re another SD politician, Bill Janklow* SD AttyGen 1975- 79; SD Governor 1995 - 2003; US House of Reps Jan 2003- Jan 2004.

Aug 2003, Janklow was driver of car in crash killing 55 y/o motorcyclist, was tried, convicted of 2nd Degree Manslaughter (felony) & misdemeanors - speeding, running a stop sign, & reckless driving. Was sentenced in Dec 2003, resigned House of Reps seat, effective Jan 2004. See link* re:
- his prior traffic** & speeding stops & mostly warnings, some tickets, (some admitted in evd)
- factors in this fatal crash; also no blood test post crash (he was diabetic).
- 100 day jail sentence, w community service release for hrs ea day after 30 days.

Is ^ Bit O'History any indication of how Ravnsborg saga will end? IDK.

________________________________________________
* Bill Janklow, Vehicular Homicide. Bill Janklow - Wikipedia.
** In 1999 Gov. Janklow spoke about his driving history:
"Bill Janklow speeds when he drives. He shouldn't, but he does. And when he gets a ticket, he pays it," Janklow said. "If someone told me I was going to jail for two days for speeding, my driving habits would change. I can pay the ticket but I don't want to go to jail. It's that simple."
"Janklow had a dozen speeding tickets between 1990 and 1994, and the fines totaled more than $1,000. Janklow has not received a speeding ticket since Oct. 1994."
Article was run Aug 2003, days after crash. MPR: Son acknowledges Janklow ran stop sign

 

[JudgeJoe]

Rank Speculation: Delay in Manslaughter Prosecution While Ravnsborg Pursues Promotion and Pension?

Wow, a really clear theory on why Ravnsborg hasn’t resigned yet like any normal person with a conscience.

Bonus points for the snark.

This promotion idea makes sense. Although I would think his post-manslaughter delay tactics would be unbecoming of an officer- let alone promotion to Colonel. Seems most everyone agrees he should step down.
South Dakota police groups call on Ravnsborg to resign