Amy Senser was drinking the night she killed Phanthavong, prosecutor says

By Gregory Pratt Tue., Apr. 17 2012 at 8:59 AM

Amy Senser was drinking the night she killed Anousone Phanthavong

Amy Senser admitted to a daughter that she was drinking the night she ran over Anousone Phanthavong, a Hennepin County prosecutor said Monday.

Deborah Russell, the assistant county attorney who made the statement during a motions hearing in Senser's case, didn't elaborate.

Prosecutors revealed earlier this year that Joe Senser, Vikings legend and Amy's husband, spoke with a rehab center after Amy's hit-and-run.

Senser is scheduled to go on trial next week for running over Phanthavong, the 38-year-old head chef at True Thai restaurant.

The prosecutor's remark came during a hearing where Senser's defense counsel raised several motions, according to the Star Tribune.

Senser's defense attorney asked Hennepin County Judge Daniel Mabley to dismiss a third count of criminal vehicular homicide for reckless driving filed last week against Senser. The judge denied that motion.

Joe Senser and his wife "panicked" when they saw her bloody Mercedes

Senser's attorney also wants the judge to bar prosecutors from using Senser's refusal to speak with State Patrol investigators against her.

Senser's attorney also wants an order "blocking testimony" from Dr. Rick Spounagle, the medical director of the Florida Detox and Wellness Institute. Joe Senser spoke with him the morning after Amy killed Phanthavong.

Spounagle is expected to testify that "the Sensers saw news of Phanthavong's death on television, and that Amy Senser told her husband she was in the area at the time."

He would also testify that "the Sensers went outside and looked at the Mercedes parked in the driveway, saw blood on the hood, and 'panicked,'" according to prosecutors.

Senser does not deny that she hit Phanthavong with her Mercedes on the Riverside exit of I-94 last August. Phanthavong was filling his stalled car with gas at the time.

Instead, Senser says she didn't know that she hit Phanthavong at the time of the accident.

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Tags:

Amy Senser, Anousone Phanthavong, Deborah Russell, Hennepin County Attorney's Office, True Thai

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I never lost my kids...

"It was not out of the ordinary that she didn't contact the girls and they had to call you to pick them up?""That's Margaret; that's her personality," he said, referring to his wife by her middle name.He testified that she's not erratic, as Russell put it. Rather, she's "fiercely independent," he said."So instead of picking the girls up, she might choose to go do something else?" Russell asked."You nailed it," he said.So, you would think if she was lost, she would call the girls, and she would call somebody... who'd she call. So, I am a father of two daughters and if my wife did not pick up my daughters at a concert and did not hear from her, he calls it "fiercely independent". I go some other words for it.. holy crap.

JonnyBeGood

If she was on her way to pick up daughter - why are we not asking?(i) Did she pick up daughter, did they both not see the blood and damage on the car?(ii) If she didn't pick up daughter like she was supposed to, what happened?(iii) Whether she was drunk or not, she killed someone, she is going to get jail time, just a matter of how much.(iv) Boycott Senser's.

Ellie Manuel

Johnny, In earlier articles about this case, it was noted that she was supposed to pick her daughter up from a concert but cancelled at the last minute and someone else picked her up. If I find the article, I'll link it to you.

davethedyslexic

Running over someone and then hiding out till any drugs and/or alcohol that may have been in your system are gone is casual and reckless disregard of our legal system. So is blaming the person that you have killed.

How many of their restaurants have closed down because of this bad economy? Can't wait till thet are all closed down.

S. Abdul Otherwise Himself

Two down (Eagan and Plymouth), two to go.

HurdyGurdy

Do you understand how our legal system is supposed to work? Your logic is the same as any lynch mob, allowing your emotions about an alleged crime lead you to punish someone before they're given a fair trial.

I'm just as angry as you about the image of a wealthy trophy wife swerving around drunk in her Mercedes, hitting a person, and relying on legal loopholes to avoid responsibility. But we can't just decide who deserves due process and who doesn't.

Koodle

'trophy wife' lolz

HurdyGurdy

Although I hope to see justice served, and have no sympathy for Amy Senser, your headline and the caption under her photo are very misleading and unprofessional, and the headline in the articles list is even more blatant: "Amy Senser drank on the night of the fatal accident." The prosecutor claims to have evidence she was drinking; it's not a fact.

This case is already full of class and racial tensions, so let's cool it on the media trial and let the legal teams do their work.

Guest

Having "prosecutor says" in the headline wasn't clear enough for you?

HurdyGurdy

That line was only included as the last words in the headline for this page. Look at how it's listed among the other articles on the homepage, and read both captions that state what the prosecutor alleges as fact. Also, a truly careful publication would begin the headline with the "prosecutor says," like the Star Tribune, which said "Prosecutor alleges Amy Senser said she drank that night."

It's pretty crucial to this case whether or not Senser was drinking, so treating such important information so casually is in reckless disregard of our legal system, especially because a news organization should know that readers tend to form their impression of a story by its headline.