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Jailed 'Midnight Rider' film director seeks early release
MillertakenStraightToJail
Randall Miller, director of the Gregg Allman biopic, "Midnight Rider," is led out of a Wayne County courtroom after pleading guilty in March to involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespass in the death of second camera assistant Sarah Jones during filming. - photo by Courier file photo

Imprisoned film director Randall Miller is seeking early release from the Wayne County Jail, citing medical issues.

Miller pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespass March 9 in the death of second camera assistant Sarah Jones during the filming of the Greg Allman biopic, “Midnight Rider.”

The death occurred Feb. 20, 2014, when Jones was struck by a train while the crew attempted to shoot a scene on the Doctortown train trestle in Jesup. The crew was under the impression it had permission to be there, but Miller failed to follow safety procedures and trespassed, the prosecution contended.

Miller was sentenced to 10 years — two in prison and the remaining time on probation. He was ordered to spend his jail time in Wayne County, pay a $20,000 fine and serve 360 hours of community service. As a condition of his probation, he is barred from working in the film industry as a director, assistant director or in any supervisory capacity during his probation. He will be allowed to transfer his probation to California.

Motions seeking early release were filed by Miller’s attorney Ed Garland on Nov. 25 with an addendum filed Dec. 22 in Wayne County Superior Court.

According to the motions filed, Garland said Miller has been a model prisoner, paid all the required fines and has recently shown a drastic decline in health.

In a letter written by Cathy Weiss Green, M.D., and filed within the motion submitted Dec. 22, along with various medical reports, Green wrote that Miller, 53, gained 35 pounds during the past three months. He also showed signs of bilateral swelling of his lower legs and ankles, fluttering of his heart every couple of days for approximately 30 minutes, and a chronic cough.

The letter continues by stating that Miller has a history of elevated blood pressure, had risk factors for heart disease, chronic lower-back pain and had surgery to remove herniated discs.

Green recommended that Miller be placed back into the care of his primary-care physician, Dr. Stuart Miller, no relation, who has an eight-year history of treating Randall Miller. Green also recommended that the imprisoned director be seen by cardiologist Dr. Paul Maher of Southern California Heart Specialists, who has evaluated Miller twice since 2012.

Based on that recommendation and the behavior Miller has exhibited in prison, Garland filed the motion seeking immediate release.

“If the court denies Randall’s motion to release him immediately, then Randall Miller respectfully requests the court to enter an order allowing Randall to see a qualified board-certified cardiologist in South Georgia at Mr. Miller’s own cost, for the recommended testing and evaluation,” Garland wrote in the motion.

The Wayne County District Attorney’s Office quickly filed a request to have the early release motion denied, saying that Miller entered into the plea under oath, knowing the state had sufficient evidence to establish the essential elements of the crime to a jury trial.

As part of the agreement, all charges against Miller’s wife and co-producer, Jody Savin, were dropped.

“After having received the benefit of a negotiated sentence in a criminal case in which he faced up to ten years in prison, Miller now seeks to proverbially, ‘have his cake and eat it too,’” Wayne County Assistant District Attorney John Johnson wrote in his motion. “To make matters worse, he files his motion just prior to the Christmas holiday, a particularly sensitive time of the year for the family who suffered the tragic loss of Sarah Jones as a result of his conduct.”

Included in the state’s motion was a letter written by Sarah Jones’ father, Richard, strongly opposing Miller’s early release.

“I truly seek healing for all involved,” Jones wrote. “There is, however, a need for accountability. It is after all, apparent that Mr. Miller and his co-defendants displayed gross negligence and a reckless disregard for the safety of their cast and crew. Thus the guilty pleas for involuntary manslaughter. Mr. Miller entered into the agreement for eight years’ probation and to serve two years in jail
(10 years total).”

The letter also included an excerpt, written with permission, by Izabeau Giannakopoulos, one of the other film-crew members who was seriously injured at the train crash. The letter says Miller should not be exempt or relieved of paying his penalty.

Executive producer Jay Sedrish entered a separate guilty plea to involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespass and was sentenced to serve 10 years of probation and pay a $10,000 fine.

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HPD Reports
crime scene

From Hinesville Police Department reports. Editor’s note: Due to computer issues at the city, reports have been unavailable in recent weeks. They are back. Our thanks to the HPD clerks who provide them. We’re catching up as quickly as possible.

Burglary, etc: A man called 911 on Feb. 27 because he was watching his White Circle home getting burglarized. The man said his alarm system had an app that showed live video on his phone, and he was “viewing three males inside his residence,” as he talked to 911.
Police responded, caught two of them inside the house and found the third guy “hiding behind a tree,” the report said.
Detectives are investigating.

Public indecency: An officer was sent to Lowes around 4:30 p.m. March 12 in reference to a disturbance involving a man and a woman.
The woman, a Lowe’s employee, said she had just got back from her lunch break when she saw the man “looking around at items on a shelf.”
The woman said she asked him if he needed help finding anything and he held up something, then said “I have found everything I need,” the report said. “(he) then placed his arms around (the employee) to hug her and then kissed (her) neck. (She) then moved away from (him) and told him to have a nice day and attempted to walk away from (the man). (He) then began to follow (her), stating ‘I would lick you up and down’ and ‘you better hide in an office.’ (She) then spoke with manager and called 911.’”
The man told police he thought he recognized the woman “and stated to me that he had previously had a relationship with her approximately two years ago. (He) was unable to recall (her) name while on scene.”
The woman told police “she has never seen, nor spoken to (the man) before today.”
The woman was given a case number and told what to do. The man was allowed to leave.

Indecent exposure: A Berkshire Terrace man reported he went outside his house around 6:40 a.m. and “observed a man who appeared to be intoxicated, peeing on his truck and trailer.”
The complainant said the man “fully exposed his penis while he was peeing. When (complainant) asked him to stop the man told him to ‘shut the (bleep) up.’ (Complainant) advised the man he would call police. (Complainant) advised his young son was standing outside during the incident. He said the man got into a 1996 black Buick and drove away, almost hitting cars that were parked in the driveway.”
The complainant said he did not want to press charges, “he said he wanted to report the incident because the man did not stop peeing when he asked him too.”
The complainant said he’d seen the man before “come and go” from a nearby apartment. The officer met with the resident of that apartment, who said the man was a cousin and did not pee on the complainant’s trailer.

Identity theft: A man went to HPD on March 21 to report that when he went to get a driver’s history for a commercial driver’s license, he found several citations on the history that weren’t his. “(He) stated he noticed someone was issued four citations in Arkansas and one citation in Jacksonville, Florida,” and during the time the Arkansas tickets were written he was in locked up in Georgia.
“(He) advised that he was not incarcerated when the citation in Jacksonville, Florida was issued but he was not in Florida at the time. (He) was unable to leave the state of Georgia due to being on felony probation.”
It gets worse.
“(He) told me that he attempted to file his income taxes for the first time ever and he was rejected due to owing the IRS money, $20,000. (He) stated he spoke to a representative for the IRS and he was informed that taxes were filed in his name in 2014 and the return was $1,3000. (He) advised he did not file taxes in 2013 and he was still incarcerated at the time.”
The man then told the officer he thinks his brother “got the citations and filed income taxes using his information. (He) believed his brother obtained his Social Security number and other demographics when he was incarcerated.”
The man said he talked to his brother, who said he paid all the tickets. “(His) brother also told him on a different occasion that he knew his date of birth and (SSN). (He) advised he told his brother that it was not OK to use his name due to him getting his life together and attempting to drive commercial vehicles.”
The guy said he didn’t have his brother’s address. He chose to fill out an identity theft packet.

Simple battery, theft by taking: An officer was sent around 2 a.m. March 20 to the Baymont Inn regarding a disturbance. There, a woman said she was being “grabbed and pulled” by a man when she told him to leave her motel room. She said they began arguing when he accused her of stealing $100.
The man claimed he met the woman on a dating website and when they “started having sex she informed him that it would cost $100.” He told her he wasn’t going to pay her, “got dressed and realized the five $20s in his pants pocket were missing. He accused (her) of stealing his money.”
The officer asked the woman if she stole the man’s money and she replied, “No, I work hard for my money.”
Both were given a case number and told how to get a warrant.

Robbery: A woman called HPD March 15 to report she was home when her estranged husband came to her apartment “and asked her to come outside to talk to him,” a report said.
“She stated that she stepped outside thinking that he was going to be civil, though she recently filed for divorce from him. As she stepped outside, he grabbed her necklace off her neck and then ran down the stairwell and out to the parking lot.”
The woman said he stood by his vehicle a minute, then drove off as police arrived. Officers checked the area but had no luck finding the man.

Burglary: Police were sent to a Malibu Drive address on March 13 regarding missing firearms and ransacked rooms. The homeowners were at work and got home to find handguns and rifles missing, as well as video games.
It appeared the home may have been broken into through the attic. Police found footprints and other evidence, and the case is under investigation.

Recovered stolen trailer: A U-Haul employee was inventorying equipment on March 14 when she discovered a trailer that had been reported stolen in Florida on Dec. 26. “She stated someone had backed the trailer into a parking stall along with the other trailers sometime during the night.”

Theft: In February, the maintenance man at Cypress Bend Mobile Home Park reported that “22 air conditioning unit disconnect boxes were stolen from various lots… He stated he began receiving calls from people that their air conditioning units were not working.”
The boxes contain small pieces of copper. He didn’t know who swiped them, but valued the total at about $341.

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