HANOVER, Va. (AP) — A Virginia teenager who drove a car full of friends after attending an all-day concert has been cleared of an involuntary manslaughter charge in a crash that killed a passenger.
Hanover County Circuit Judge J. Overton Harris dismissed a jury Monday in the case of 19-year-old Elizabeth Ellen Vican of Ruther Glen.
A grand jury indicted Vican in February.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/1pnZ0C1 ) reports Harris ruled on a motion by defense attorney Craig Cooley, who said there was unsufficient evidence that Vican had fallen asleep. Court records show the car ran off U.S. Route 360 last July and slammed into a tree. The crash killed 23-year-old Benjamin Lewis Parks of Chesterfield. Vican suffered a serious head injury.
Vican and several friends had attended the Whoville music festival in Richmond County.
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Information from: Richmond Times-Dispatch, http://www.timesdispatch.com
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