Patrol reviews Janklow stops

| Monday, September 29, 2003

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SIOUX FALLS (AP) — The Highway Patrol is compiling a report on troopers' contact with Rep. Bill Janklow and the vehicles to which he had access to determine whether the former governor received preferential treatment during traffic stops.

The information, taken from the state radio system and data banks, will be turned over to the Moody County prosecutor.

Janklow is charged in Moody County with second-degree manslaughter and three misdemeanors for an Aug. 16 traffic accident that killed motorcyclist Randy Scott, of Hardwick, Minn. Janklow is to enter pleas Friday.

Results of the examination will not be released to the public because it is part of an open criminal case, said Col. Dan Mosteller, director of the South Dakota Highway Patrol.

Mosteller said it's not the first time the Patrol has compiled such driving data.

"In various cases in the past, we have done the same thing," he said. "It is not out of the ordinary. It's not an everyday occurrence, but it is not out of the ordinary."

Investigators said Janklow was driving 71 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone and ran a stop sign just before his car collided with Scott's motorcycle.

Janklow received a dozen speeding tickets in the four years ending in 1994 when he was again elected governor after an eight-year break. He has not been ticketed for speeding since then.

At a press conference Monday in Sioux Falls, Janklow said he didn't know if he was treated differently because he was governor.

The tracking only works when a vehicle or name is tagged or logged in the system, said Mosteller.

"If an officer does not call in the (license) plate or (driver's) name there is no way to tell if there was any interaction," he said. "Or if he (the officer) called in a license plate and does not use a name there is nothing to show who was driving the vehicle."