I Am All For A Prison Sentence …What Do You Think?

quote:

Maybe Jail time is more frightening  then A Moving Train

The people being tried were probably never on the train tracks or in jeopardy of being hit by a train.
IMHO, they belong in jail for a while.
According to the news story, they claim that they weren't responsible for getting permits....who was?

Fined maybe, jail no.  We have enough people in jail now.  I'm sure the woman's father will be filing a lawsuit anyway.

I mean, come on.  How many of us have stepped onto the tracks/property to take photos without permission?  I've actually gotten permission (N&W Lambert's Point, Hagerstown roundhouse, CSX Collier Yard in Petersburg), but many times I did not.

You can turn me in if you want.

Financial penalties aren't enough punishment for causing a death through greed and stupidity in my opinion.  The message needs to be sent that what they did is more serious than warranting a slap on the wrist.

Art

Others could argue that we don't have enough, or, at least the right people, in jail.

Sure I have stepped on the tracks, but in my case it is usually a little used or thought

to be abandoned line, AND I am on and off as fast as possible, looking both ways, and not setting up a bed on them.  With what I heard this morning, about state economies otherwise benefitting from movie making, I think there has been a long term, ingrained policy of government looking the other way?  Money does not pay for a life.

If you were on the tracks without permission, you're responsible.  I can't see where these people don't belong in jail, they were specifically told they did NOT have access.  As far as who's job it is to get permits, it's certainly someone's job.  I suspect the reason they didn't have the permits is that the RR refused to grant them access!

I say send them to jail, maybe next time they'll take the lives of their employees a bit more seriously.  On what planet are they not guilty of negligent homicide?

I have hear all about this director/producer.He has been known for cuting corners when it comes to safty.There is another story about this man.Look the main thing here is they did not have permission to be there on csx.The resuilt is some ones life was cut short.I agree that the guy should get some prision time.I say about 15 to 25 years with the provission.He has to do at least 10 years for paroll.

These people set up a movie shoot on a railroad bridge after CSX refused to grant them permission to do so.  A movie crew woman was killed.

Fines will not make an impression on these people.  The only thing that might get their attention is jail time assuming that they can be convicted.

Convicting them may be more difficult than you think.  These folks will have good defense attorneys and good attorneys can turn lemons into lemonade.  Don't blame the attorneys.  It is their job to get their clients off.  

Joe 

The director / producer needs to do jail time.  At that level in this endeavor, when is obtaining permits and carrying out the job safely and efficiently, not your responsibility?  That's not how the real world operates.  It's clear the crew was there:

1. On the orders of the producer / director
2. Illegally, since CSX refused them permission twice.

Since this guy's refusal to take no for an answer cost someone their life, he should pay the price.

George

Latest information;  Georgia Public Broadcasting reports there has been a "plea deal".

"Director Randal Miller pleaded guilty, this morning (3/9/2015), to involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespassing as part of a 'plea deal'."

"Under the deal, he will spend two years in the county jail, and another 8 on probation, and pay a $20,000.oo fine."

"Prosecutors agreed to drop charges against his wife, and business partner, Jody Savin."

HW, thanks for the update.

HW,

That is nothing more than a slap on the wrist...if that.

Gene

You got it!  That's what "plea bargaining" is all about.

Well, he has one more gauntlet to run.  The civil suit is next, and I'm sure it'll be a dandy!  Since he's guilty by his own admission, that ship has sailed.

There is just no shortage of stupid people today. It's an epidemic! And the tragedy is they vote as well.

They all deserve prison time - hard time - to set an example.

I worked in the movie industry for years on hundreds of movies and have been dismissed from a movie for objecting to production on a railroad track under unauthorized circumstances.

Not paying any attention to safety and not bothering with permits is the norm, not the exception with movie people..

You mean this could happen again?!That this kind of thing goes on!I find this very dishearting to hear.I like movies but not at the cost of someone safty.

I am for letting the justice system adjudicate this case.

They would have had a hard time with anything but negligent homicide in this case and to be honest if they went in front of a jury, they could easily have gotten off, juries are fickle beasts, and probably had they been convicted of negligent homicide, the judge probably would have given close to what the plea deal was I would guess (I am not a lawyer, but several relatives were ADA's in Manhattan over the years and told me a lot about what goes on). The guy now has a criminal record that is going to haunt him, besides time in jail he also has 8 years of probation, and it is unlikely that he would be able to work in the movie industry again. Negligent homicide is defined as where someone caused the death of another when they had reason to believe their actions could end up with the result of death, in this case operating on a bridge without a permit from the train company (which presumably, had they had a permit and cooperation, train traffic would have been diverted or otherwise under safety control). 

Not to mention that this guy is in big trouble with the civil suits, the standard is even less with civil suits than criminal ones, and he has nowhere to hide. I suspect this was not a high budget production, and if they cut corner on safety issues, what kind of liability insurance did they have? This guy isn't exactly Steven Spielberg, so he is unlikely to have the many millions of dollars such a judgement will likely be and probably doesn't have insurance. 

I am not defending him, just saying that based in the law, he likely would have gotten just as much of a penalty had it gone to trial, and would have cost the taxpayers money in the process. Not to mention by him pleading guilty, it allows the civil suit to go forward and such an admission of guilt (since he pled guilty) will make the civil suit easier. 

Did you ever put a metal hospital bed on the tracks? It was the fragments of the bed that contributed to the death of the woman.  Variety has a very good article. Permission had been repeatedly deigned by the railroad.  And the issue is the death of the woman not just the trespassing on railway property.