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Janklow Appears in Court on Manslaughter Charge
Aired September 02, 2003 - 14:34 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: South Dakota Congressman Bill Janklow won't be appearing on Capitol Hill today. Instead, you are seeing him here appearing in court in his own home state on second degree manslaughter charges stemming from a deadly car wreck.
An update now as we watch these live pictures from CNN Congressional correspondent Jonathan Karl, he's in Washington. Jon, we're going to watch the live pictures. Brief us on where this stands right now.
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, you saw there that Congressman Janklow has a bandage on his hand. He broke his hand in this accident when he was traveling between 71 and 75 miles per hour, according to police reports, through a stop sign in a 55 mile an hour zone and he struck a motorcyclist, killing that motorcyclist, Randy Scott.
He has been charged with second degree manslaughter. This was the first court appearance on that. That is a charge that could land him in jail for up to ten years and slap him with a $10,000 fine. He also faces three lesser charges including reckless driving, speeding and running a stop line.
Now, Janklow is a towering figure, really a political giant in the state of South Dakota. Somebody who has served for 16 years as governor, four years as attorney general. Right now he is the state's sole representative in the House. He is somebody who has been a household name in South Dakota for literally three decades.
Now the big question is will Bill Janklow be forced to resign from Congress as a result of this incident? Janklow himself has had nothing to say on this. His son, however, has told the state's largest newspaper that the congressman has no intention of resigning. It's not even something that he has talked about. But many others in the state are saying that is something that ultimately he will be forced to do.
One person whom I spoke to over the telephone just a short while ago is the former senator from South Dakota, Larry Pressler, somebody who ran against Janklow for the House seat time and lost. Pressler says he suspects that Janklow will be forced to resign and that he, Larry Pressler, is thinking about running yet again for that seat in the House.
One other thing that's significant about this, Kyra, is that Janklow is somebody who Republicans here in Washington saw as one of two people who would really have a chance, the only two people, who would have a chance of beating Tom Daschle in next year's Senate race out in South Dakota. The other being former Congressman John Thune.
Now with this accident the Republicans say Janklow is finished politically regardless of what decision he makes ultimately about whether or not he will resign -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Jon, I just have a quick question. I remember when this story came about and it was a number of weeks ago. What took it so long to sort of come forward and I guess to get folks talking about this? Were some people gun shy because he's a political leader?
KARL: Well, it was August 16 that the accident took place. Really what moved it to a whole other level is when the police announced their charges. They knew there was an accident, that was reported quite wildly in the state of South Dakota, but it looked like it was simply an automobile accident, a tragic one where somebody died.
But then the charges came out, charges of second degree manslaughter which really shocked people because it was suddenly seen not simply as a traffic question, but now you're talking about a felony. The Congressman accused of a felony, a much more significant situation, something that could actually land him in jail.
PHILLIPS: Jon Karl, live from Washington, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 2, 2003 - 14:34 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: South Dakota Congressman Bill Janklow won't be appearing on Capitol Hill today. Instead, you are seeing him here appearing in court in his own home state on second degree manslaughter charges stemming from a deadly car wreck.
An update now as we watch these live pictures from CNN Congressional correspondent Jonathan Karl, he's in Washington. Jon, we're going to watch the live pictures. Brief us on where this stands right now.
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, you saw there that Congressman Janklow has a bandage on his hand. He broke his hand in this accident when he was traveling between 71 and 75 miles per hour, according to police reports, through a stop sign in a 55 mile an hour zone and he struck a motorcyclist, killing that motorcyclist, Randy Scott.
He has been charged with second degree manslaughter. This was the first court appearance on that. That is a charge that could land him in jail for up to ten years and slap him with a $10,000 fine. He also faces three lesser charges including reckless driving, speeding and running a stop line.
Now, Janklow is a towering figure, really a political giant in the state of South Dakota. Somebody who has served for 16 years as governor, four years as attorney general. Right now he is the state's sole representative in the House. He is somebody who has been a household name in South Dakota for literally three decades.
Now the big question is will Bill Janklow be forced to resign from Congress as a result of this incident? Janklow himself has had nothing to say on this. His son, however, has told the state's largest newspaper that the congressman has no intention of resigning. It's not even something that he has talked about. But many others in the state are saying that is something that ultimately he will be forced to do.
One person whom I spoke to over the telephone just a short while ago is the former senator from South Dakota, Larry Pressler, somebody who ran against Janklow for the House seat time and lost. Pressler says he suspects that Janklow will be forced to resign and that he, Larry Pressler, is thinking about running yet again for that seat in the House.
One other thing that's significant about this, Kyra, is that Janklow is somebody who Republicans here in Washington saw as one of two people who would really have a chance, the only two people, who would have a chance of beating Tom Daschle in next year's Senate race out in South Dakota. The other being former Congressman John Thune.
Now with this accident the Republicans say Janklow is finished politically regardless of what decision he makes ultimately about whether or not he will resign -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Jon, I just have a quick question. I remember when this story came about and it was a number of weeks ago. What took it so long to sort of come forward and I guess to get folks talking about this? Were some people gun shy because he's a political leader?
KARL: Well, it was August 16 that the accident took place. Really what moved it to a whole other level is when the police announced their charges. They knew there was an accident, that was reported quite wildly in the state of South Dakota, but it looked like it was simply an automobile accident, a tragic one where somebody died.
But then the charges came out, charges of second degree manslaughter which really shocked people because it was suddenly seen not simply as a traffic question, but now you're talking about a felony. The Congressman accused of a felony, a much more significant situation, something that could actually land him in jail.
PHILLIPS: Jon Karl, live from Washington, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
