C.J.: Amy Senser victim of prosecutor's 'evil ... narrative,' says husband Joe

One question from Sunday's Q & A with attorney Ron Meshbesher rankled Joe Senser, just days before his wife's scheduled release from prison on criminal vehicular homicide convictions.

How would you have defended Amy Senser? I asked the famed retired defense attorney. Meshbesher said: "I think it was a tough case because the woman left the scene. People just didn't believe what she was saying about it. They weren't able to find out if she was drinking too much. That's a tough case for anybody to win."

Senser's devoted husband, restaurateur Joe Senser, reacted in an e-mail sent to me Monday morning.

"Read your little quip quote from [Meshbesher]. Amy Senser had no knowledge that she was in an accident," wrote Joe Senser. "Go back and look at the conditions, the construction, the brakes were never applied, there was no swerving or tire marks which would indicate knowledge. Elected [Hennepin] County Attorney Mike Freeman knew she had no knowledge, he sat in his ivory tower and proceeded to craft the most evil … narrative that made it impossible for Amy to receive a trial that included the truth."

I replied to Senser's e-mail with a request for an interview. "I mean no disrespect, but no way," Senser wrote back.

The county attorney's spokesman, Chuck Laszewski, said, "We have no comment."

Amy Senser was convicted of the August 2011 death of popular True Thai chef Anousone Phanthavong.

It was Minnesota's turn to be "Up for Whatever," the ride Bud Light is taking across the country after a Super Bowl rollout that featured Arnold Schwarzenegger in a wig and tennis shorts.

Andy Severson, a heating and air conditioning guy for Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq in Minneapolis, was aware that St. Paul's Billy's on Grand was having a Bud Light viewing party.

"We knew that all the TVs would be on hockey and none on basketball. We thought that was pretty cool because we're hockey people," said Severson, a Wild season-ticket holder from the beginning who didn't have tickets to this game.

When a Bud Light rep came up to Severson and said If I give you this Bud Light, are you up for whatever? Andy "thought somebody was pulling a joke on me, a prank. I said, 'Like the commercial?' She said Exactly like that. I said, 'Oh man. We're up.' And they took us. It was an unbelievable night."

Severson was with his wife, Jackie Quigley, her friend Abby Prokosch and his friend Mike Mercier. They all piled into a limo with former Minnesota Wild Wes Walz and KFAN's Brandon Mileski. The next stop was the loading dock at the X, where All-Pro Viking Cordarrelle Patterson and former Viking Matt Blair presented Severson with autographed footballs. Severson was escorted to Section 110 to make the pregame "Let's Play Hockey!" announcement. Then they went to the Bud Light suite where he met more former NHL players, including Antti Laaksonen, Mark Parrish, Brian Bonin and Tom Chorske, each dispensing autographed pucks. They watched the Wild beat the Penguins 4-0 from the suite. Severson received a jersey signed by all the celebrities, then was taken to Headwaters Restaurant for a postgame concert where he sang "I Want To Drive The Zamboni" with the band Uncle Chunk.

C.J. can be reached at cj@startribune.com and seen on Fox 9's "Buzz."