Morgan Hanks, Involuntary Manslaughter, Virginia 2009

Morgan Hanks, Ex-Army Contractor, Charged with Vehicular Manslaughter in Virginia

A former U.S. Army contractor has been arrested for allegedly killing one sailor and seriously injuring another in a vehicular collision in Kuwait in 2009.

Morgan Hanks, 25, of Newport News, Virginia, was taken into custody in Newport News, Virginia, on charges contained in a two-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury on July 13, 2010. The indictment charges Hanks with one count of involuntary manslaughter for the death of Brian Patton and one count of assault resulting in serious bodily injury for injuring David Morgan.

The collision occurred on November 19, 2009, in Kuwait, where Hanks was employed as a canine handler by Combat Support Associates and Combat Support Associates Ltd. (CSA). CSA provided site security and force protection at U.S. Army bases in Kuwait. According to the indictment, Hanks was operating a motor vehicle in excess of the posted speed limit on Alternate Supply Route Aspen in Kuwait when he attempted to pass an eight-vehicle convoy on the two-lane road while traveling uphill and caused a collision with another vehicle in which Patton and Morgan were traveling.

The collision killed Patton and left Morgan with a serious brain injury and multiple fractures. Hanks is charged under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA), a statute that gives U.S. courts jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed outside the United States by contractors or subcontractors of the Department of Defense. If convicted, Hanks faces up to 10 years in prison.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Army’s Criminal Investigative Division and is being prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorneys Micah D. Pharris and Steven C. Parker of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Hurt for the Eastern District of Virginia.

An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until convicted through due process of law.

Hanks is currently in custody facing charges of involuntary manslaughter and assault resulting in serious bodily injury. The case is ongoing, and further details will be provided as they become available.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/former-army-contractor-charged-involuntary-manslaughter-and-assault-after-collision-kuwait