This article is from the February 2024 edition of SDPB Magazine. See past issues HERE.
Former South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg was removed from office in June 2022 after he struck and killed pedestrian Joe Boever in September 2020. During the police investigation, Ravnsborg maintained that he did not know what he had hit until Boever's body was found the following day. Investigators told Ravnsborg that Boever's face went through his car’s windshield, and Boever’s glasses were found inside the car. Boever's body was found a couple feet from the side of the road with a flashlight still on. Ravnsborg stated that he never saw the body that night. He also denied being distracted by his smartphone, but data indicated that he was on his phone until about a minute before the collision. Ravnsborg was charged with three misdemeanors. Ravnsborg is the first statewide elected official to be impeached, removed from office, and barred from holding future office in the state.
Events like these are not easily forgotten, but many details have been lost during the other big story at this time, the COVID-19 pandemic. Lee Strubinger, SDPB’s Politics & Public Policy Reporter, hopes to fill in some gaps with a podcast he will release this month titled Short Walk.
"It's a bit of a double entendre," said Strubinger about the title of his podcast. "Part of it has to do with Joe Boever, who was walking towards his house along the side of the highway. We don't know why Joe Boever was walking along the side of the road. He probably thought he was going for a short walk out to his truck and back to his house. Without giving away too much, this phrase also comes up later in the series."
Strubinger's interest in this story stems from the fact he has been covering Ravnsborg before he announced his run for Attorney General. His intimate knowledge of the case assists in telling the whole story.
"I was there as it unfolded over time. I've covered Ravsnborg's political career close to the beginning of it. Part of this podcast is telling the full story of how this attorney general, who critics say had never even tried a jury trial before or had ever won an election before, became the state's top law enforcement official,” said Strubinger. “There was also a lot going on at the same time; we were maybe only half a year into the COVID pandemic. Between news that was coming out of that and then this fatal accident, there was so much happening news-wise at that time that it would be helpful for listeners to understand what we all went through at this particular time. This podcast doesn't really go into COVID or any other stuff happening simultaneously; it's just a look at this impeachment process.”
Along with learning about the story, Strubinger and the SDPB Journalism team discovered a good deal about the legislative and legal processes.
"There's this weird grey area in the criminal courts that this particular case fell under in terms of charging him with something higher than what he got. That's what the prosecutors were saying. There was criticism about that," Strubinger continued. "I think we all learned something new. Impeachment of a constitutional officer is something we've never gone through as a state before, which is part of why I wanted to do a podcast about this. To see across a 9-episode span, how did this all play out? We set a precedent here, so we saw first-hand what this totally new thing looks like, and now we've gone through it together as a state."
Another goal for this podcast is highlighting South Dakotan, Joe Boever.
"The heaviest part of the podcast is thinking about the death of Joe Boever. The unsatisfying part of the whole story, as I saw it play out, was the way Joe Boever was just a name in the paper, a name we read aloud, or an image we saw on television without really knowing who he was. I devote some of this story to letting people know who Joe Boever was, what his interests were, and what his struggles were in terms of things that we all struggle with as we go through life. That's one of the things I’m proud of, actually feeling like we get a chance to know who this South Dakotan was whose life was unfortunately taken way too early."
Every detail of the nine-part podcast has been carefully planned.
"Because I was there during the House impeachment panel process and the subpoenaed testimony that occurred during that time, I know where a lot of new information came from. SPPB has been covering Ravnsborg ever since he ran for the United States Senate in 2014, and we have a unique opportunity to tell this in a rich audio format. It's a fascinating story that feels like a true crime story. It has political intrigue and nice music underneath it to carry us through that whole journey,” said Strubinger.
Short Walk spans nine half-hour episodes available Tuesday, February 20th. Episodes can be downloaded or streamed on any preferred podcast platform, or found at SDPB.org/shortwalk, along with other resources about the podcast.
"We set precedent here. We saw first-hand what this totally new thing looks like. Now, we've gone through it together as a state.” - Lee Strubinger, Politics & Public Policy Reporter