Lawyers will try again to settle Janklow accident civil case SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- Instead of going to trial, attorneys will try again to reach a settlement in the wrongful death lawsuit stemming from a fatal crash caused by former South Dakota Rep. Bill Janklow. Randy Scott of Hardwick, Minn., was killed Aug. 16, 2003, when his Harley-Davidson hit the back of the Cadillac that Janklow drove through a stop sign at an intersection near Trent. Scott was killed instantly. Janklow was injured. Scott's family sued the United States for $25 million after the U.S. attorney in Minnesota concluded Janklow was on official business at the time of the crash, which makes the federal government responsible for any damages. Both sides met last month for nearly three hours in Minneapolis but couldn't resolve it so the case was headed to trial before a judge. Another settlement conference has since been scheduled for May 13. Lawyers who have the authority to settle the case are to be present, according to the court document outlining the change. The defense lawyer did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Minneapolis said federal prosecutors could not comment. Janklow, who has returned to private practice as a lawyer, was a dominating force in South Dakota politics for 30 years. After serving as attorney general, the Republican was governor for 16 years, serving four terms in two separate eight-year stints. In 2002, he was elected as South Dakota's lone member of the U.S. House. Janklow has diabetes and testified he had not eaten the day of the accident and likely blacked out when he approached the intersection. A jury in his boyhood home of Flandreau convicted him of second-degree manslaughter in December 2003. He resigned from Congress a month later, served 100 days in jail, paid a $5,000 fine, temporarily lost his law license and was forbidden from driving during his probation. He finished his sentence in the Minnehaha County Jail in May 2004. His three-year probation ended Jan. 22, 2007. Because Janklow was given a suspended imposition of sentence, his criminal record was cleared.
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