Richland County (trfnews.i234.me) – A legal firestorm is erupting in Richland County as State’s Attorney Megan Kummer admitted she — not a deputy — wrote a sworn statement used to charge a 51-year-old former college football player, Raymond William David Ruschel, with gross sexual imposition.
Ruschel, who gained national attention in 2022 for playing college football at age 49, is accused of sexually assaulting a woman as she drifted in and out of consciousness on November 23, 2023, at his apartment in Wahpeton.
But now, the case has taken a dramatic legal twist.
Defense attorney Richard Edinger claims Deputy Latasha Keller committed perjury, accusing her of misrepresenting forensic evidence in a declaration of probable cause. The document claimed that semen was found during a sexual assault exam, but a crime lab report later stated the sample was only “presumptively positive” for semen and could also have been urine, breast milk, or other fluids.
Edinger called the declaration “so egregious” that it taints the jury pool and makes a fair trial impossible.
In response, Kummer submitted a declaration saying that she herself wrote the statement, and her office electronically signed Keller’s name for the court filing — something she admitted was standard practice in her office.
“Deputy Keller did not review or authorize the exact wording… If any error… it is attributed to me,” Kummer said.
Legal experts question the practice. Sioux County State’s Attorney Chris Redmann, a former police officer and prosecutor, said prosecutors typically don’t write affidavits to avoid becoming witnesses in the case.
“Now you are a witness,” Redmann said. “You’ve made statements… you are essentially an investigator.”
Court documents also show that Ruschel admitted to having had a vasectomy, aligning with the lab’s observation that the fluid could be from someone who had undergone the procedure, not necessarily proof of sexual assault.
Kummer denied any perjury and insisted she acted in good faith, though she acknowledged she could have worded the charging document better.
“This statement was made in good faith… and maybe even erroneous understanding of the laboratory reports,” Kummer wrote.
The defense cited past North Dakota cases involving law enforcement misconduct to bolster its argument, though Kummer said those comparisons are “erroneous and misleading.”
The case continues to unfold, with Ruschel’s defense pushing for dismissal and the possibility of a change of venue due to pretrial publicity.
I’m Chris Harper reporting for TRF News.
Deputy Latasha Keller