As the investigation into the hit-and-run death of 38-year-old Anousone Phanthavong unfolds, many questions need answering. Just not by us on the observation deck.
It's hard to resist weighing in on a powerful human drama like this, pitting wealth and privilege against an immigrant chef, his life cut tragically short. But the popular implication that the case against Mercedes SUV driver Amy Senser, wife of former Vikings player Joe Senser, is moving more slowly than it might is ill-advised and an insult to law enforcement. Let's step back and let investigators do their job, which they are doing in real time -- not "CSI" time.
"The timeline is this case is not out of the ordinary, considering the circumstances," said State Patrol spokesman Lt. Eric Roeske. "Any time you're dealing with a high-profile person or family, there's obviously more attention directed toward it, for good reason. We just ask that everyone be patient with the process. [Amy Senser] is being treated no differently than anyone else in the same circumstance."
Cases like this one, Roeske said, can be a learning opportunity for a public accustomed to crime shows. "They can see how things really work, instead of how they work on TV," he said. "The fact is that law enforcement is far more complex," bringing together evidence and reviews from prosecutors, the defense team, public safety experts and others, working painstakingly and comprehensively to build their case.
Even the Sensers' attorney, Eric Nelson, and the Phanthavongs' attorney, Jim Schwebel, seem to agree on this.
"The State Patrol has been nothing but professional with us," Nelson said. "Amy has admitted to being the driver, but they will go to great lengths to prove that no one else was driving. People think, 'It's your car. You admitted you were driving. It's an open-and-shut case.' But the list of things the state will have to prove is far more extensive than who was driving and did someone die."
"It may appear to the public that they're taking a long time for charges," Schwebel said, "but I respect the process."
As a child in Laos, Phanthavong was separated from his parents in the years of unrest following the Vietnam War. The family came to America and rebuilt their lives. Phanthavong was the treasured head cook at True Thai, an award-winning restaurant on Franklin Avenue. He was killed Aug. 23 as he put gas in his car on the ramp leading from westbound Interstate 94 to Riverside Avenue about 11 p.m. Mercedes parts were found at the scene as was blood on the hood of the Sensers' vehicle, according to the State Patrol.
