‘Midnight Rider’ director Randall Miller to be released from prison

Director Randall Miller, who pleaded guilty last year to involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespass following the death of crew member Sarah Jones on the set of the film “Midnight Rider,” is being released from jail in Georgia after serving just over a year in custody.

Miller had been sentenced to serve up to two years in connection with the death of assistant camera operator Jones, 27, who was killed Feb. 20, 2014, when a train crashed into a set on a trestle during the first day of filming of “Midnight Rider.” At least six other crew members on the film, a biopic of Southern rocker Gregg Allman, were injured.

The case drew widespread attention in the film industry, serving as a rallying cry for crew members demanding safer conditions on movie sets. For many observers, it evoked memories of an earlier accident on the set of the 1982 film “Twilight Zone: The Movie” in which star Vic Morrow and two child actors were killed by a helicopter that crashed into them during filming. In that case, director John Landis and four others were tried and acquitted on charges of involuntary manslaughter.

“Sometimes the only way to get people to pay attention to safety is to show them the consequences will be grave if they don’t,” Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School, told The Times last year. “It’s almost like you have to remind every generation of filmmakers you don’t get to take this risk with people’s lives.”

Though released from jail, Miller remains under a 10-year probation barring him from serving as director, first assistant director or supervisor with responsibility for safety on a film production.

Twitter: @joshrottenberg

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