Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS — A prosecutor says Amy Senser came forward in a fatal Minneapolis hit-and-run only after her stepdaughter threatened to go to police.
The wife of former Minnesota Vikings tight end Joe Senser is charged with running down 38-year-old Anousone Phanthavong (ah-NOO’-sahn PAN’-tah-wong) on a freeway exit ramp August.
Attorneys gave opening statements Monday after a jury of eight men and six women was selected.
Prosecutor Deborah Russell said stepdaughter Brittani Senser called her stepmother’s defense lawyer, Eric Nelson, “and told him, ‘You tell the State Patrol who the driver is or I will.’”
In his opening statement, Nelson acknowledged that Phanthavong’s death was “tragic” and told jurors there was no evidence Senser was impaired or was under the influence of alcohol.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press (http://bit.ly/J62uAA) reports testimony begins Tuesday.