Lane Garrison Charged in Fatal Crash

Thu., Mar. 8, 2007 3:35 PM PST by Sarah Hall

Lane Garrison's day of reckoning has arrived.

The former Prison Break actor was charged Thursday with felony vehicular manslaughter in the December car crash that left a 17-year-old high school student dead.

In addition to the manslaughter count, the Los Angeles District Attorney charged Garrison with a felony count of driving under the influence and a misdemeanor count of providing alcohol to a minor.

The actor made his initial appearance in Beverly Hills Superior Court Thursday afternoon, but his arraignment hearing was postponed until Apr. 11.

His bail was set at $100,000 and he was ordered not to drive, consume alcohol or have any contact with victims or witness of the crash.

If convicted, Garrison could face up to six years and eight months behind bars.

The D.A. stopped short of alleging the 26-year-old actor acted with gross negligence in the crash, a distinction that would have increased his maximum sentence to 10 years.

Garrison's attorney, Harland Braun, told reporters that he was working on a deal with prosecutors. His client, said Braun, "has a deep sense of responsibility."

"He is going to accept responsibility for his conduct," the lawyer continued. "The only question is what is that level of responsibility."

Garrison's troubles began Dec. 2, when he reportedly encountered a group of teenagers at an L.A. supermarket and agreed to accompany them to a party.

At the time of Garrison's arrest, Braun said that the actor had one drink at the party and left to meet a friend, allowing three teens to tag along. His next memory, the lawyer claimed, was of waking up in the hospital with a cab voucher in his lap.

Meanwhile, witnesses from the party had a slightly different version of events, telling TMZ that Garrison took "several shots" from a bottle of Grey Goose vodka he brought with him and that he was actually on his way to buy more alcohol for the party at the time of the crash.

Wherever Garrison was heading, he didn't make it there. As the actor drove through Beverly Hills, his SUV jumped a curb and hit a tree, killing 17-year-old Vahagn Setian and injuring two 15-year-old female passengers, one critically.

Garrison suffered only minor injuries in the accident.

A police investigation revealed that Garrison registered a blood alcohol level of 0.20—more than two and a half times the legal limit—at the time of the crash and tested positive for cocaine.

He was also believed to have been driving at between 47 and 51 miles per hour, well over the 25 mph speed limit.

An attorney for Setian's family said in a statement Thursday that they were "gratified" by the charges.

"They have lost their only child due to Lane Garrison's recklessness," the lawyer said.

Garrison played Tweener on Fox's Prison Break up until the beginning of this season, when his character was killed off in an October episode.