By Russ Bynum
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) --A movie director was released from jail Wednesday after serving a year behind bars for the death of a crew member killed by a train during filming of a movie about singer Gregg Allman.
A Superior Court judge ordered former "Midnight Rider" director Randall Miller to be set free after a hearing at which prosecutors agreed Miller's good behavior had earned him early release halfway through a two-year sentence.
"He was still in shackles when I last saw him, but he was very glad the sentence was behind him," Don Samuel, one of Miller's defense attorneys, said by phone after leaving the courthouse in rural Wayne County. "He's moving on and he's going to be on an overnight flight to California."
Wayne County Sheriff John Carter confirmed that Miller had been freed shortly after his court appearance Wednesday. The director had been jailed since March 9, 2015, when he pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of 27-year-old camera assistant Sarah Jones.
Miller had just begun making a biographical movie about the Allman Brothers Band singer on Feb. 20, 2014, when a freight train plowed into his crew during filming on a railroad bridge spanning the Altamaha River about 70 miles southwest of Savannah.
The train ran over Jones, killing her, and injured six other film workers. Investigators found evidence that CSX Transportation, which owned the train trestle, had denied permission in writing to Miller's crew when asked if it could shoot on the tracks.
Jones' parents told Superior Court Judge Anthony Harrison they opposed any early release. Her father, Richard Jones, said his chief concern wasn't about punishing Miller but rather sending a strong message to Hollywood to improve safety conditions on film sets.
"The message we did not want to send is that because you may be a movie director, you may be getting off lightly," Richard Jones said after the hearing. "Sarah's dead for heaven sakes. These were just blatant decisions that put these people in danger unnecessarily."
Miller's attorneys had been pushing for months for the 53-year-old director to be freed early, not only because of his good behavior while jailed but also citing concerns for his health.
Miller's plea deal spared him from a possible 11-year prison sentence had he been convicted by a jury. As part of the deal, prosecutors also agreed to drop criminal charges against the director's wife and business partner, Jody Savin.
But there was an unforeseen legal glitch in part of the plea deal allowing Miller to serve his time at the Wayne County jail rather than in a state prison, said District Attorney Jackie Johnson. She said attorneys later discovered Georgia case law that says defendants must go to prison to serve sentences of more than one year.
Johnson said the decision to release Miller early was in keeping with her understanding of the original plea deal — that Miller could earn early release for good behavior after serving a year.
"The goal of the judge, as well as us, was to protect the intent of the original sentence," Johnson said. "Nothing really changed."
She also noted Miller's punishment isn't over. He'll spend the next nine years on probation, and during that time he is legally prohibited from directing any films.
Music Biopics Get Creative At Toronto Film Festival
Many of the expected conventions of music biopics are present in "Piece by Piece," about the producer-turned-pop star Pharrell Williams, and "Better Man," about the British singer Robbie Williams. There's the young artist's urge to break through, fallow creative periods and regrettable chapters of fame-addled excess. But there are a few, little differences. In "Piece by Piece," Pharrell is a Lego. And in "Better Man," Williams is played by a CGI monkey. If the music biopic can sometimes feel a little stale in format, these two movies, both premiering this week at the Toronto International Film Festival, attempt novel remixes. In each film, each Williams recounts his life story as a narrator. But their on-screen selves aren't movie stars who studied to get a part just right, but computer-generated animations living out real superstar fantasies. While neither Williams has much in common as a musician, neither has had a very traditional career. Their films became reflections of their individuality, and, maybe, a way to distinguish themselves in the crowded field of music biopics like "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Rocketman." "This is about being who you are, even if it's not something that can be put in a box," Pharrell said in an interview Tuesday alongside director Morgan Neville. Also next to Pharrell: A two-foot-tall Lego sculpture of himself, which was later in the day brought to the film's premiere and given its own seat in the crowd. The experience watching the crowd-pleasing "Piece by Piece," which Focus Features will release Oct. 11, can be pleasantly discombobulating. A wide spectrum of things you never expected to see in Lego form are animated. Virginia Beach (where Pharrell grew up). An album of Stevie Wonder's "Songs in the Key of Life."... Read More