'Midnight Rider' Trial Is Set for 2015, Assistant Director Pleads Not Guilty
Movie

Hillary Schwartz enters not-guilty plea to the involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespass charges before trial begins early next year in connection to Sarah Jones' on-set death.

AceShowbiz - The involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespass case against "Midnight Rider" filmmakers in the death of camera assistant Sarah Jones is scheduled to go to trial early next year. During a status hearing in the Wayne County Superior Court, Judge Anthony Harrison determined a trial date of March 9, 2015.

Jury selection is set to begin on that date, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Pre-trial motions would be heard for two days on February 12-13 and all discovery had to be submitted to the court by December 10 this year, so the judge issued the order during the hearing on Tuesday morning, September 30.

On the same day, assistant director Hillary Schwartz pleaded not guilty to the involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespass charges recently filed against her. She becomes the fourth individual facing such charges, after director Randall Miller and producers Jody Savin as well as Jay Sedrish were indicted earlier this year.

All three of them already entered not-guilty pleas. In their statement, Miller and Savin claimed Jones' death "was not a crime." The husband/wife duo insisted, "We never had criminal intent; we would never knowingly or intentionally put anybody's safety at risk. This was a horrible tragedy and a horrific accident."

Prosecutors kept mum on the reason why Schwartz was not charged at the same time as her co-defendants. If convicted, they each face up to 11 years in prison.

The filmmakers behind the Gregg Allman biopic are also facing a civil wrongful death suit filed by Jones' family. On top of that, U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the production company behind the film with "one willful and one serious safety violation" for failing to provide safety measures to protect employees and exposing them to hazards.

Follow AceShowbiz.com @ Google News

You can share this post!

You might also like
Related Posts