Randall Miller will not remain in the memory of film-lovers as the director of Nobel Son (2007) or Bottle Shock (2008), but rather as the ‘’almost director’’ of Midnight Rider. It is on the ‘’set’’ of that biography movie where the tragic event happened. A year ago, on 20 February 2014, while filming a scene on live train tracks, 27-year-old camera assistant Sarah Jones was killed by a running train and six other crew members were injured. As a sign of respect towards the family of the deceased, director Randall Miller pleaded guilty of criminal trespass and involuntary manslaughter in the trial which took place two weeks ago.
As a consequence of this trial, Randall Miller was sentenced to ten years: two years in Wayne County jail and eight years of probation. In addition, the former director must pay a $20,000 fine and last not but not least, perform 360 hours of community service. According to Deadline, Randall Miller will not serve as director, assistant director or supervisor in charge of safety on any picture for 10 years and these were all decided under terms of probation. It seems that Miller’s guilty plea was thought as a defense of his wife, Midnight Rider co-writer and producer Jody Savin, who was initially involved in the trial as well.
Read Randall Miller’s entire statement (via Deadline):
“On Feb 20th, 2014, a great number of mistakes were made and the terrible accident occurred which took Sarah Jones’ life. It was a horrible tragedy that will haunt me forever. Although I relied on my team, it is ultimately my responsibility and was my decision to shoot the scripted scene that caused this tragedy.
“I pleaded guilty for three reasons: first, to protect my wife and family; second, out of respect for the Jones family and to not put them through a difficult trial; and, third, to take responsibility for my failure in not knowing that every safety measure was in place.
“The location manager, the production designer, the unit production manager, the cinematographer, assistant director and others all made mistakes that led to this, but I have taken responsibility because I could have asked more questions, and I was the one in charge. I have worked in the film industry as a director for 25 years and never had a significant accident of any kind on any one of my sets.
“I am heartbroken over this. I hope my actions have spared the Jones family more anguish and that the on-set safety measures that were lacking before this terrible tragedy will now take precedence for all in the industry.”