An update on the Senser case in Minneapolis... Amy Senser, the wife of former Minnesota Vikings star Joe Senser, has been charged in the hit-and-run death of Anousone Phanthavong, who was struck and killed while putting gas in car on an interstate ramp: Amy Senser charged with felony in hit-and-run.Phanthavong's body was found 40 feet in front of his car -- and within walking distance of a hospital emergency room. Over a week later, Senser admitted in statement that she was the driver. Authorities apparently still aren't sure what happened that night, but they apparently have enough evidence to charge Senser with the felony.
Despite the lack of details in the complaint, the evidence already in hand was sufficient to charge her, Freeman said at a news conference. Those facts include that she was the driver, that her vehicle struck Phanthavong and that he died as a result.Senser appeared briefly in court this morning. Her attorneys insist that she was unaware that she had hit Phanthavong, and thus had no obligation to report it. Her defense will basically hang on the Minnesota Supreme Court's recent reversal of a conviction in a seemingly identical case: Amy Senser's defense pinned on 2010 ruling.
"Having a confession isn't a bad place to start,'' Freeman said. "Obviously we need collaborating evidence; if we needed more for probable cause we would have listed it in the complaint."
Senser's attorney expressed surprise at the filing of the charge. The accident reconstruction is complete, he said, adding that the process typically takes about six months.
"I'm not suggesting this is a rush to judgment, but I certainly think the county is feeling public sentiment and issued the charges, " Nelson said.
"He's wrong," Freeman said.
Meanwhile, as the media somehow tries to paint Amy Senser as the victim in all this, Anousone Phanthavong's loved ones wait for justice. Here's an op-ed from Anna Prasomphol Fieser, co-owner of the restaurant where Phanthavong worked: The other side of the Senser story.
