Jailed Journalist To Be Freed

A freelance videographer who served the longest prison term for a journalist in U.S. history for refusing to testify before a grand jury is expected to be freed, his attorneys said Tuesday.

Joshua Wolf, 24, spent more than seven months in a federal prison in Dublin, Calif., after declining a subpoena to turn over a videotape he shot of a chaotic 2005 San Francisco street protest against the G-8 Summit that was taking place a continent away in Scotland.

The government was investigating how a San Francisco police officer got his skull fractured during the melee and the alleged torching of a police car.

Wolf sold the video to San Francisco media outlets and also posted it on his Web site.

Defense lawyer David Greene said the government agreed not to call Wolf to testify before the grand jury after Wolf's attorneys convinced prosecutors that his video shed no light on the two crimes.

"We finally had assurances that he would not have to testify before the grand jury," Greene said.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup, who has jailed Wolf for 226 days, needs to approve his release, Greene said.