Midnight Rider‘s director, Randall Miller, was released from jail early.
Midnight Rider director Randall Miller was released from a Georgia jail on Wednesday after only completing just half of a two-year plea bargain for his role in the death of 27-year-old camera operator Sarah Jones.
According to reports, the judge found that a pre-existing deal, known as “two for one,” between Miller’s lawyers was binding.
From The Hollywood Reporter:
Miller plead guilty to criminal trespassing and involuntary manslaughter last year and began serving his sentence that March. His attorneys tried to have Miller released over the holidays last December and once more earlier this month. Both attempts failed.
“He is in the process of being released,” says John B. Johnson, the special assistant district attorney for Wayne County, Georgia, who worked with Miller’s attorneys on the deal, “He still has to go through the process of registering with probation in Georgia. And he still has to get California probation to accept the transfer.”
Apparently, when Miller made his original plea last year, it had included a provision that said any time beyond a year could be deducted by doing work while inside. However, that was considered “unlawful” and Miller’s attorneys were able to get the convicted director out of jail early. “We had to amend the original sentence which made him eligible today to get out,” Johnson tells The Hollywood Reporter, “We now have a valid sentence.”
Sarah Jones’ father, Richard Jones, gave a statement to the court, in which he was extremely upset with the ruling, calling it too short.
“He said, the whole point was not to be vindictive, but to send a message to the industry that if you’re in a leadership position, if you come to Georgia and endanger your crew members, you’re going to be held to account,” Johnson recalled, “And all that got accomplished. He did not feel that this sentence was long enough. He’s got that right to express that.”
“The whole point was to make Randall Miller responsible for what he did, which cost someone their life and to send that message to the industry,” Johnson added.
Sarah Jones was the camera assistant that was killed by a train last year while shooting the Gregg Allman biopic ‘Midnight Rider’. The film’s director Randall Miller, his wife and the film’s producer Jody Savin and executive producer Jay Sedrish were each charged with criminal trespass and involuntary manslaughter following Jones’ death. Randall Miller would plead guilty. He also pointed out that he accepts all blame and that the incident was all of his fault.
(via THR)
