By Russ Bynum
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) --Authorities broke a promise to grant a filmmaker immunity from prosecution when they charged her with crimes in a fatal train collision during shooting of a movie about singer Gregg Allman, the woman's attorneys said.
Hillary Schwartz was working as an assistant director on the ill-fated "Midnight Rider" movie Feb. 20 when a freight train plowed into the crew on a railroad bridge spanning the Altamaha River in rural Wayne County. The crash killed Sarah Elizabeth Jones, a 27-year-old camera assistant from Atlanta, and injured six other crew members.
Schwartz is one of four people charged with involuntary manslaughter and trespassing. Schwartz's attorneys filed court documents Monday asking a judge to dismiss the charges against her. They said prosecutors got her to talk by assuring Schwartz she was a witness, not a suspect. Less than two months after she gave authorities an interview, Schwartz was indicted.
Schwartz's motion included a copy of a May 29 letter from John B. Johnson, an assistant district attorney, asking Schwartz to return to Georgia from California for an interview with prosecutors and sheriff's investigators.
"I have talked with Jackie Johnson, the district attorney, and we both agree and it is the office opinion, that your client is only a witness in this case," the letter says. "It does not appear from any of our investigation that she is culpable in any crime involving the incident on the railroad trestle in February."
Jackie Johnson said Tuesday she was looking into the allegation. Her office has two weeks to file a response.
"I'm not aware of any immunity agreement," she said.
A March 9 trial has been scheduled for Schwartz; the movie's director, Randall Miller; his wife and business partner, Jody Savin; and executive producer Jay Sedrish. CSX Transportation, which owns the railroad trestle, has said in previous court filings that it twice denied the filmmakers permission to shoot on its tracks, each time in writing.
Sheriff's investigators have said the crew had permission to be on property surrounding the tracks that is owned by forest products company Rayonier.
Production on "Midnight Rider," based on the life of the Allman Brothers Band singer, was halted after the train collision.
Defense attorneys say Schwartz sat for an interview with authorities on July 29, less than three weeks after a grand jury indicted Miller, Savin and Sedrish. Schwartz's lawyers say John Johnson again told her during their face-to-face meeting: "This interview is being done for the purpose of you being a witness and not being prosecuted in that case."
A grand jury indicted Schwartz on Sept. 10.
Schwartz's motion doesn't quote any prosecutor saying specifically that she had been promised immunity from prosecution.
Involuntary manslaughter is a felony carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Criminal trespass is a misdemeanor punishable by no more than a year in prison.
Review: Director Morgan Neville’s “Piece by Piece”
A movie documentary that uses only Lego pieces might seem an unconventional choice. When that documentary is about renowned musician-producer Pharrell Williams, it's actually sort of on-brand.
"Piece by Piece" is a bright, clever song-filled biopic that pretends it's a behind-the-scenes documentary using small plastic bricks, angles and curves to celebrate an artist known for his quirky soul. It is deep and surreal and often adorable. Is it high concept or low? Like Williams, it's a bit of both.
Director Morgan Neville — who has gotten more and more experimental exploring other celebrity lives like Fred Rogers in "Won't You Be My Neighbor?,""Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain" and "Steve! (Martin): A Documentary in Two Pieces" — this time uses real interviews but masks them under little Lego figurines with animated faces. Call this one a documentary in a million pieces.
The filmmakers try to explain their device — "What if nothing is real? What if life is like a Lego set?" Williams says at the beginning — but it's very tenuous. Just submit and enjoy the ride of a poor kid from Virginia Beach, Virginia, who rose to dominate music and become a creative director at Louis Vuitton.
Williams, by his own admission, is a little detached, a little odd. Music triggers colors in his brain — he has synesthesia, beautifully portrayed here — and it's his forward-looking musical brain that will make him a star, first as part of the producing team The Neptunes and then as an in-demand solo producer and songwriter.
There are highs and lows and then highs again. A verse Williams wrote for "Rump Shaker" by Wreckx-N-Effect when he was making a living selling beats would lead to superstars demanding to work with him and partner... Read More