Prosecution Wraps Up in Janklow Trial

The prosecution in the second-degree manslaughter trial of Rep. William J. Janklow (R-S.D.) wrapped up its case Wednesday with a flurry of testimony from witnesses who cast doubt on the congressman’s medical condition and detailed his involvement in two traffic close-calls.

Janklow, 64, is accused of running a stop sign on a rural road in August, striking and killing 55-year-old Randolph E. Scott, a farmer from Minnesota. If convicted on the felony count and lesser charges, this state’s lone U.S. representative could face up to 10 years in prison, a $10,000 fine and potentially the end of his political career.

During the third day of the trial, Jennifer Walters -- a resident of nearby Trent -- testified that she and her family “narrowly” escaped a collision with Janklow at the same intersection late last year.

Headed to Minnesota for a belated Christmas dinner with her grandmother, Walters said, the family was crossing the intersection about 10 miles south of Flandreau when a white Cadillac with tinted windows “came out of nowhere.”

The vehicle drove “like a missile through the intersection,” she said. “I heard tires screeching and gravel kicking up” as the other driver attempted to avoid her truck.

After Walters called 911 and reported the incident, the Moody County Sheriff’s Department sent Deputy Tony Aas out to investigate, Aas told the jury.

Within minutes, the deputy recalled, he located the vehicle, which Janklow was driving. Using radar, Aas determined the congressman was traveling 86 mph in a 65 mph zone.

“I originally thought it was 92 mph,” Aas said in court.

Aas pulled Janklow over and asked about the speeding and the alleged incident with Walters. The politician, he said, replied that he had “traveled the roads for many years” and that he “didn’t recall the stop sign.”

According to court documents, Aas -- a member of the National Guard’s 727th Transportation Co. in Watertown, S.D. -- asked Janklow during the traffic stop for information about when certain units were going to be deployed to the Middle East. The information had not been made public as to whether Aas’ unit would go. Janklow “stated that we were going,” the documents said.

Aas, who now is stationed in Kuwait and will return to duty when the trial is over, said he let Janklow go with a warning.

After testifying, Aas declined to comment on why he had not given Janklow a ticket.

Also on Wednesday, former state trooper Lyle Tolsma told jurors that in April 2002, he was following up on a report by Janklow that a section of barbed wire fencing was obstructing Interstate 90 east of Rapid City, S.D.

On the way, Tolsma said, he crossed paths with the congressman, who was driving on a rural road that was under construction. Tolsma, using his radar gun, said he clocked Janklow driving through the 40 mph zone at 84 mph.

When Janklow’s car approached Tolsma’s vehicle, the officer said, the politician “jerked back ... and appeared to be about to lose control.”

Tolsma said that he was forced to pull his own vehicle to the side of the road, and that Janklow’s sand-colored sport utility vehicle missed hitting the officer by only a few feet.

Tolsma, now a special agent with the state’s Department of Criminal Investigations, did not follow Janklow or issue him a ticket.

After testifying, Tolsma also declined to comment on the matter.

Even the politician’s own chief of staff, Chris Braendlin, acknowledged Wednesday that his boss of nine years had a tendency to speed.

“He goes fast. So do I sometimes,” said Braendlin, who was in the car with Janklow at the time of the collision.

Braendlin said he remembered seeing a “motorcycle, a flash, spinning,” but not a stop sign.

He testified that Janklow “didn’t stop at that stop sign. He went right through it.”

Prosecutor William Ellingson later asked Braendlin how it was possible for him to spot the motorcyclist, but miss the stop sign. A nervous Braendlin took a deep breath, shook his head and replied, “I don’t know.”

The prosecution on Wednesday also called two emergency medical technicians who had responded to the scene of the accident with Scott. They stated that Janklow, a diabetic, had told them that he had eaten something earlier in the day and that he had checked his blood sugar level and said it was fine.

Mark Bonrud and Tom Price, who work for Moody County’s ambulance service, testified that Janklow didn’t seem to be disoriented or confused when they examined him shortly after the accident.

Bonrud, who also is a diabetic, said he asked Janklow whether the politician had tested himself for low-blood sugar. “He said, ‘Yes,’ ” Bonrud said. “He was fine.”

Price said Janklow told him he had eaten earlier that day. However, Price said he didn’t know what the congressman ate or “what time that was.”

The defense is hanging its case on the argument that Janklow had not eaten properly the day of the accident and that his reactions had been slowed because of hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar.