The plaque on the wall of the only courtroom in Moody County, S.D., promises “Equal and exact justice to all men of whatever state or persuasion.” On Monday, that pledge is to get a significant test when Rep. William Janklow, the state’s dominant Republican politician for the past quarter-century, arrives in that courtroom for his trial on a felony manslaughter charge.
With his public support plummeting, according to polls, and his past law-and-order rhetoric hanging over a case that could end his political career and send him to prison for 10 years, Janklow will have to account for the Aug. 16 accident in which the Cadillac he was driving killed a motorcyclist, Army veteran Randolph Scott, 55.
State police accident investigators said Janklow, 63, was driving 71 m.p.h. in a 55-m.p.h. zone and ran a stop sign when his car hit Scott’s Harley-Davidson at a rural intersection.
Before the accident, Janklow had made light of his penchant for driving fast in a state of vast distances and empty country roads. He has had more than a dozen speeding tickets and at least eight accidents, police records show.
At pretrial hearings last week, defense attorneys suggested Janklow will argue that hypertension medicine he was taking might have diminished his awareness as he approached the stop sign at high speed.
Janklow has also been charged with three misdemeanors in the case, but the felony charge is the most significant threat to his future. Conviction for the felony would probably mean a jail term. And a convicted felon generally loses the right to vote in committees and on the House floor in Congress. Because Janklow is South Dakota’s only House member, that would bring intense pressure on him to resign if he is convicted.
