“Boston Legal” Justin Mentell died in car accident; age 27

Former “Boston Legal” star Justin Mentell died in a car accident in Madison, Wisconsin after falling asleep (not wearing a seatbelt) while driving (February 1). He was 27 years old.

“His mother believes that he may have fallen asleep at the wheel just prior to the accident," Iowa County Sheriff's Dept. Sgt. Daniel Carey told RadarOnline.com exclusively.

“We don’t believe that alcohol was a factor in the incident. There was no evidence of that here," Carey said. “It is possible that Mr. Mentell fell asleep at the wheel, as his mother told us that he liked to take long drives on his own and the area he crashed was pretty secluded. There was some snow lying on the surrounding areas, [but] the road conditions were clear and dry, so, they would not have been a contributing factor either.

The actor played lawyer Garrett Wells on Boston Legal. Justin last project is the 2009 film G-Force.

[Photo courtesy by Michael Bezjian/ Getty Images]