MINNEAPOLIS -- The wife of former Viking Joe Senser was charged with criminal vehicular homicide Thursday, after turning herself in for her alleged role in a fatal hit and run.
Amy Senser turned herself in at Minnesota State Patrol headquarters and was processed into the Hennepin County Jail around 11 a.m.
At a press conference Thursday afternoon Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman offered few details on what happened leading up to the fatal accident, or after it, but said he was confident prosecutors would gain a conviction.
"(There's) more than adequate evidence in the file to do that today," Freeman said.
Freeman also indicated that more charges against Amy Senser for her role in the death of Anousone Phanthavong, who was struck and killed while filling his car with gas on the shoulder of a ramp at I-94 and Riverside.
"Obviously as evidence comes forward there may be supplemental charges," Freeman stated.
The jail booking sheet indicates that Amy Senser posted $150,000 bail and was released from the Hennepin County Jail early Thursday afternoon.
After Freeman was done speaking the attorney for the family of Phanthavong, Jim Schwebel, told reporters that his clients were relieved that charges had finally been filed against Amy Senser. He did express disappointment that more facts about the events that led to Phanthavong's death have not been shared by the defendant.
"We remain committed to searching for what really happened that night," Schwebel vowed.
The Senser family's attorney, Eric Nelson, has said that Amy Senser, was behind the wheel when Phanthavong of Roseville was fatally struck and killed the night of Aug. 23.
When Nelson was asked if he thought the state had enough to convict his client, Amy Senser, he said:
"There is quite a bit more that the state would have to prove other than just that there was an accident and she fled the scene and that she knew she hit a person, specifically, a person."
Christine Funk is a Minneapolis area criminal defense attorney, not directly involved in the Senser case, and she says it will be difficult to convict Senser of any crime if she truly didn't know she hit a person.
"You have to dial it backwards. So she left the scene of an accident but if she didn't know she left the scene of an accident how can she be guilty of leaving the scene of an accident," Funk said Thursday night.
Investigators say Phanthavong ran out of gas and was hit while walking an interstate exit ramp.
The victim's family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit, seeking at least $50,000 in damages, against the Sensers.
If found guilty of criminal vehicular homicide Amy Senser faces up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.
Her husband Joe Senser was a tight end for the Vikings in the 1980s. He owns Joe Senser's Restaurant and Sports Theater.
Amy Senser will make her first court appearance Friday afternoon in Hennepin County.
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