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‘Midnight Rider’ Director Randall Miller’s Hearing On Possible Parole Violations Postponed To September – Update

Anthony D'Alessandro and Dominic Patten
·3-min read

Update, Aug. 14: Randall Miller’s hearing before Judge Anthony L. Harrison has been delayed again, now set for Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 9AM ET, “upon agreement of counsel, and for good cause shown” according to an amended rule nisi which you can read here. Deadline will update you if we hear back from Miller’s attorney Ed Garland or Harrison, but we hear that talks between prosecutors and Miller’s team are ongoing to determine whether or not the Midnight Rider filmmaker should serve more time in jail after directing the DGA signatory film Higher Grounds last summer in Serbia, Colombia and the UK during his probation period.

On May 29, Georgia law enforcement authorities requested that Department of Community Supervision issue an arrest warrant for the filmmaker, asserting that he violated the conditions of his probation.

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Miller’s lawyers on June 2 said that Miller was well within his rights to direct as long as he wasn’t in charge of safety. “The issue before the court is this: Did the special condition of probation prohibit Miller from serving as a Director in any movie, regardless of who was in charge of safety? Or was he prohibited only from serving as a director, or in any other capacity in the production of a movie, if his role had any safety responsibilities?,” asked Miller lawyer Ed Garland and others in a filing (READ IT HERE).

Previous, Aug. 4: After seemingly falling afoul of law enforcement by directing a movie overseas last year, and then seeing potential recriminations delayed repeatedly, Randall Miller might be finally facing justice again in Georgia.

Judge Anthony L. Harrison has ordered the Midnight Rider filmmaker to appear before the court on Aug. 21 at 9 AM EST at the Wayne County Courthouse in Jesup, Georgia. You can read the Rule Nisi here.

Having already served a year behind bars after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter over the 2014 death of 27-year old camera assistant Sarah Jones on the set on Midnight Rider, Miller was released on probation in mid-2016.

On May 29, law enforcement authorities in Georgia requested that Department of Community Supervision issue an arrest warrant for Miller for violating the conditions of his probation, after learning that he directed the DGA signatory film Higher Grounds last summer in Serbia, Colombia and the UK.

“I have requested Wayne County probation to issue a warrant for his arrest,” Assistant District Attorney John Johnson exclusively told Deadline at the time. “Randall Miller has violated the terms of his probation,” the Georgia prosecutor added of Miller getting behind the camera on the Kate Nash-starring Higher Grounds. “As a director, he’s in violation.”

“One of the conditions of his probation is that he cannot serve as a director, assistant director or as a supervisor responsible for the safety of others on a film,” Johnson explained of Miller’s 2016’s probation terms. “The way Georgia interprets those kinds of clauses is that those are separate entities, so he cannot serve as a director.”

Miller’s attorneys have been fighting for the hearing in front of Harrison as an alternative to the dispute. A hearing was first set for June 17, then rescheduled to July 22, before Harrison delayed it again last month so that the filmmaker’s attorneys could work out an agreement with local prosecutors.

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