South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg not on impeachment trial witness list

South Dakota's top law enforcement officer is not expected to take the stand in his own impeachment trial.

The defense team for Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg, who earlier this year became the first constitutional officer in state history to be impeached in the South Dakota State House for conduct related to a 2020 fatal crash, did not submit a list of witnesses ahead a Wednesday deadline, Senate President Pro Tempore Lee Schoenbeck told the Argus Leader.

The development indicates Mike Butler, the Sioux Falls attorney retained by the 46-year-old Republican, will rely on oral arguments and cross examination to make the case that Ravnsborg should not be forced out of office.

Impeachment trial rules adopted in April by the Senate required both the defense and the Senate's hired prosecutor, Pennington County State's Attorney Mark Vargo, to notify the Senate by Wednesday of witnesses each intends to call during the two-day trail on June 21 and 22.

More: Sioux Falls attorney Mike Butler to lead AG Jason Ravnsborg's defense at impeachment trial

Ravnsborg in September 2020 stuck and killed pedestrian Joseph Boever, of Highmore, while driving in the nighttime hours in Hyde County. He was convicted of a pair of misdemeanor traffic violations related to the crash.

Crash investigators, though, say Ravsnborg was distracted, was not forthcoming about what caused the distraction and indicated during the House impeachment probe that he may have seen Boever's body prior to leaving the crash scene.

Authorities were not alerted to Boever's death until the following morning when Ravnsborg reported discovering the body after returning to Highmore to drop off a loaner vehicle he used to get home the night prior.

And following a months-long probe into his conduct both the night of the crash and in the days that followed, the state House voted 36-31 in March to impeach Ravnsborg for crimes while in office and malfeasance.

Neither Butler or Ravnsborg returned calls from the Argus Leader this week.

More: Now that Jason Ravnsborg has been impeached, what's next?

The prosecution intends to call to the stand crash investigators as well as former Division of Criminal Investigation agents who worked under Ravnsborg, according to a witness list Vargo submitted to the Senate this week.

Included on the prosecution list are:

• John Daily, Jackson Hole Scientific Investigations

• John Berndt, South Dakota state trooper

• Kevin Kinney, South Dakota state trooper

• Cassidy Halseth, North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation

• Brent Gromer, retired DCI agent

• Tyler Neuharth, retired DCI agent

• Joe Arenz, North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation

• Arnie Rummel, North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota AG Jason Ravnsborg not on impeachment trial witness list