"Prison Break" Actor Garrison Charged with Manslaughter

The actor Lane Garrison, of the hit Fox television drama "Prison Break," has been charged with four felonies including vehicular manslaughter. The charges follow an incident last year when Garrison was the driver in a Los Angeles car crash that killed a 17-year old boy, and wounded two other teenaged passengers who were riding in Garrison's car.

Garrison was driving a Land Rover sport utility vehicle one night last December in Beverly Hills when the car jumped the curb and hurtled into a tree. The crash left one boy dead, 17-year-old Beverly Hills High School student Vahagn Seitan, and wounded two 15-year-old girls who were also in the car.

Thursday, the actor was charged with four felony counts: driving under the influence, driving with a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit causing injury, causing injury to multiple victims, and vehicular manslaughter. He was also charged with a misdemeanor count for giving alcohol to a minor. If convicted on all five charges, Garrison could face a jail sentence of as much as six years and eight months.

A lawyer for the defense told press members that Seitan and his two female companions had recognized Garrison earlier that night, while the actor was shopping at a Los Angeles supermarket, and invited him to join them at a party. The quartet were on their way to the party when the crash took place.

Prosecutors in Los Angeles county say that the actor was driving while intoxicated, and had a blood-alcohol level nearly twice the State's legal limit at the time of the accident. Police said that Garrison had a blood-alcohol level of .20 percent, and that cocaine was also found in his system.

Garrison's defense attorney Harland Braun stated that Garrison does not remember the car crash. Braun also told reporters that his client had consumed only one alcoholic beverage that night.