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‘Midnight Rider’ First A.D. Indicted on Involuntary Manslaughter Charge

Midnight Rider Doctortown Trestle Sarah Jones
Mike McCall for Variety

Hillary Schwartz, first assistant director on “Midnight Rider,” is expected to be booked on Tuesday in Wayne County, Ga. on charges of involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespass related to the Feb. 20 train accident on the set that killed camera assistant Sarah Jones and injured eight others.

Schwartz is the fourth member of the production to face criminal charges. Director Randall Miller, producer Jody Savin and executive producer Jay Sedrish were indicted on the same charges in July. Each has plead not guilty.

John Carter, sheriff of Wayne County, said that the bail for Schwartz has been set at $27,700, the same as the other defendants in the case.

It’s unclear why Schwartz was not charged along with the other three, although Carter said that since then, the District Attorney in the Brunswick Judicial Circuit has asked his investigator to conduct additional interviews in the case.

Schwartz’s attorney did not immediately return a call for comment.

Jones was killed and others were injured when a train came as the crew was shooting a scene on a CSX trestle. CSX claims that they did not grant the production permission to shoot on the tracks.

Update and clarification: The DGA basic agreement says that the first assistant director may call a meeting to discuss safety issues when members of the shooting crew have worked 16 hours from general crew call. It also tasks the first A.D. with conducting safety meetings on set as required by the company and reporting any violations, but those guidelines apply to TV drama programs.

According to the Television and Feature Production Safety Manual, a set of industry guidelines under the Injury & Illness Prevention Program, it is the first assistant director who is tasked with conveying current safety requirements to production crew members, as well as to point to potential safety concerns with the location manager, UPM and key department heads and coordinators during the script read through or production meeting. The guidelines also task the first A.D. with conducting a safety meeting on the first day of shooting.