Law and Order at the SDNY

South Dakota House lawmakers on Tuesday began impeachment proceedings against the state’s attorney general, who is facing misdemeanor charges for striking and killing a man with his car and is already under pressure to resign.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers filed a resolution in the House to impeach the state’s top law enforcement officer, Jason Ravnsborg, after he indicated Monday he would not heed calls for his resignation.

The Republican attorney general faces three misdemeanor charges but no felonies in the September death of 55-year-old Joseph Boever.

At 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Ravnsborg reported to the Hyde County Sheriff's Office that he had hit a deer while driving on U.S. Highway 14, according to a statement from the Public Safety Department, which oversees the state's Highway Patrol.

The department didn't say how long it took for Ravnsborg to call local authorities after the collision or how he came to the conclusion that he had hit a deer.

The body of Boever, 55, of Highmore, was discovered the following morning. Ravnsborg wasn't injured.

No other details have been disclosed, including how Boever's body was discovered or whether local authorities responded to the scene at the time Ravnsborg reported hitting a deer.

Investigators asked a series of questions.

“Do you normally wear glasses or anything when you’re driving?” an agent said.

“No,” Ravnsborg said.

“Okay. Any, like cheaters or anything?” an agent said.

“No,” Ravnsborg said.

“Okay. We found a pair of broken glasses in your vehicle, but they weren’t sunglasses, they almost look like cheaters of some sort,” an agent said. “There was like a black-framed glass, part of them was laying on the front passenger floorboard, and part of them were laying in the back seat, broke in half. Do you know? I wish I had a picture of them.”

Glasses came up in the second interview 16 days later.

They’re Joe’s glasses,” an agent said.

“I wondered about that,” Ravnsborg said.

“So that means his face came through your windshield,” an agent said.

“His glasses are right there, Jason. Those are Joe’s …. so the only way for them to get there is through the windshield,” an agent said.

Ravnsborg says he didn’t see the glasses until the agent showed them to him.

“His face was in your windshield, Jason. Think about that,” an agent said.

The attorney general maintained, though, he didn’t see Boever.

“I did not know it was a man until the next day,” Ravnsborg said. “No.”

“You think you had an idea it was something other than a deer, though,” an agent said.

“I just believed it was a deer.” Ravnsborg said. “I do.”