Posted on Aug 25, 2021
Prosecutor: South Dakota AG to take plea deal in fatal crash
789
8
3
2
2
0
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 2
What I copied is basically the article...
So apparently this guy, the SD state attorney general, had been driving back that night from some GOP sponsored event. At some point while driving he was on his phone but claims he wasn't distracted. He had veered into the right shoulder and hit "something" he claims. He claimed he thought he hit a deer. He called 911 and told them he "hit something" and they asked if he thought it was a deer. He said he didn't know, and said it could be.
The crazy thing about that is the man he hit, his head went through the windshield. Even when North Dakota agents (North Dakota investigated since he's the SD state AG) pointed out in the second interview they did that the man's face was in his window, his eyeglasses were found in the AG's car. So for him to say he thought he hit a deer - and not know - is not very believable. I'm from Nebraska - you know when you hit a deer even when it's dark. And you definitely know when you hit a person. The AG apparently did walk by the corpse - which was 2 ft off the road and 60 ft behind his car. The AG was using his cell flashlight and apparently would have been able to see the body since the man. Also the man he hit was carrying a flashlight. So he should have seen that illuminated on the roadside.
The AG claims he didn't know it was a man til the next day. The original articles I read when it happened, he called the sheriff who he is friends with. They claimed to have looked and found nothing - the sheriff gave him his personal car to drive home. The AG comes out the next day and then finds the man. Oh and no breathalyzer, no blood draw until the next day.
The man he hit was out there because earlier in the night his truck went into a ditch and smashed into a bale of hay. He called his cousin, they looked at the damage, decided to get it in the morning. His cousin dropped him off at his home and the guy said he was going to bed. His family doesn't know why the man went back out to the area around 1030 pm with a flashlight walking on the shoulder of the road.
This Vanity Fair article goes into it more including some things that the defense tried to bring up about the victim being suicidal.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/08/how-a-deadly-crash-upended-south-dakota-politics
I'm not surprised he got a plea deal - but I don't buy that he didn't know he hit a person until the next day. You know if you hit a person. And anytime someone hits a deer around there, you stop and get out. I haven't hit a deer while driving but I was in the car with my ex MIL once and she hit a deer. It was daylight so we saw as she hit it (that shit came out of nowhere). I have almost hit deer at night on the highways in Nebraska. I know people who have hit deer - and they always stopped and got out.
If I feel like I ran over anything, I stop and get out to see if there's damage and what I hit.
So apparently this guy, the SD state attorney general, had been driving back that night from some GOP sponsored event. At some point while driving he was on his phone but claims he wasn't distracted. He had veered into the right shoulder and hit "something" he claims. He claimed he thought he hit a deer. He called 911 and told them he "hit something" and they asked if he thought it was a deer. He said he didn't know, and said it could be.
The crazy thing about that is the man he hit, his head went through the windshield. Even when North Dakota agents (North Dakota investigated since he's the SD state AG) pointed out in the second interview they did that the man's face was in his window, his eyeglasses were found in the AG's car. So for him to say he thought he hit a deer - and not know - is not very believable. I'm from Nebraska - you know when you hit a deer even when it's dark. And you definitely know when you hit a person. The AG apparently did walk by the corpse - which was 2 ft off the road and 60 ft behind his car. The AG was using his cell flashlight and apparently would have been able to see the body since the man. Also the man he hit was carrying a flashlight. So he should have seen that illuminated on the roadside.
The AG claims he didn't know it was a man til the next day. The original articles I read when it happened, he called the sheriff who he is friends with. They claimed to have looked and found nothing - the sheriff gave him his personal car to drive home. The AG comes out the next day and then finds the man. Oh and no breathalyzer, no blood draw until the next day.
The man he hit was out there because earlier in the night his truck went into a ditch and smashed into a bale of hay. He called his cousin, they looked at the damage, decided to get it in the morning. His cousin dropped him off at his home and the guy said he was going to bed. His family doesn't know why the man went back out to the area around 1030 pm with a flashlight walking on the shoulder of the road.
This Vanity Fair article goes into it more including some things that the defense tried to bring up about the victim being suicidal.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/08/how-a-deadly-crash-upended-south-dakota-politics
I'm not surprised he got a plea deal - but I don't buy that he didn't know he hit a person until the next day. You know if you hit a person. And anytime someone hits a deer around there, you stop and get out. I haven't hit a deer while driving but I was in the car with my ex MIL once and she hit a deer. It was daylight so we saw as she hit it (that shit came out of nowhere). I have almost hit deer at night on the highways in Nebraska. I know people who have hit deer - and they always stopped and got out.
If I feel like I ran over anything, I stop and get out to see if there's damage and what I hit.
“I Did Not Know It Was a Man”: The Surreal Story of How a Deadly Crash Upended South Dakota...
As South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg goes to trial, he has refused calls to step down over a fatal car accident that has confounded residents, split Republicans, and left a grieving family divided in its pursuit of justice.
(1)
(0)
Was he drunk? A misdemeanor for killing a person. Must be nice to hold a powerful position. Hope he isn't able to keep it.
(1)
(0)
SFC Kelly Fuerhoff
No it sounds like he may have been distracted because he was on his phone before it happened. But his lawyers, per the VF article I posted in the comment, tried to say the man he hit was suicidal and threw himself at the car.
Even if true - he claimed he didn't know he hit a person even though he walked near the corpse and the guy's head went through his windshield and his glasses were in the car. Also he called up the sheriff after he called 911. And they sound like they're buddies.
Even if true - he claimed he didn't know he hit a person even though he walked near the corpse and the guy's head went through his windshield and his glasses were in the car. Also he called up the sheriff after he called 911. And they sound like they're buddies.
(2)
(0)
Read This Next