‘Midnight Rider’ director wants to get released early from jail after serving less than a year.
The movie director sentenced to jail for the on-set death of camera assistant Sarah Jones asked a Georgia judge to set him free less than a year after he began serving time for the fatal train collision during the filming of Midnight Rider, the biopic about singer Gregg Allman.
According to reports, Hollywood director Randall Miller has been locked up at teh Wayne County jail since March, after he pleaded guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespassing. The charges come from the death of Sarah Jones, 27, who was run over by a train that crashed into Miller’s crew as it filmed a scene on the railroad bridge.
Miller was sentenced to two years in jail as part of a deal with prosecutors that allowed him toa void a trail and a possible 11-year prison term if a jury convicted him. Now after serving less than a year behind bars, his attorneys pleaded to the judge that he should be released early due to his good behavior.
“Mr. Miller has relived the day of the accident over and over and has taken full responsibility,” Miller’s attorneys said in a legal motion. “Many other people share responsibility for the accident that happened on Feb. 20, but Mr. Miller knows he bears ultimately responsibility for the safety of case and crew, and he feels immensely guilty that he let them down.”
Miller’s attorneys argued that he has gained a lot of weight and shows signs of possible congestive heart failure. According to WRAL, Miller has also been working on teaching and producing a short film.
They also insist Miller has been a model prisoner who has worked long hours in the jail laundry and helped tutor other prisoners working toward GEDs. Miller’s lawyers say he also agreed to help the sheriff and a judge produce a film on the local drug court by raising money from Hollywood connections and editing video from a workspace inside the jail.
Sarah Jones’ parents recently commented on the legal proceeding saying they hope to stop Miller from walking free anytime soon.
