Posted on 01/31/2007 7:58:31 AM PST by SmithL
SAN FRANCISCO - A freelance videographer who's been imprisoned for five months for refusing to turn over his footage of a 2005 protest lost another bid for release.
Joshua Wolf, 24, was held in contempt of court after being subpoenaed by a San Francisco federal grand jury investigating a G-8 summit protest where anarchists were suspected of vandalizing a police car and one city officer suffered a fractured skull. Wolf refused to hand over 30 minutes of unpublished footage of the protest and was ordered jailed in August.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and U.S. District Judge William Alsup have ruled that 1972 Supreme Court precedent requires everyone, including journalists, to appear before grand juries if they have been summoned.
He could remain jailed until July, when the grand jury that subpoenaed him expires.
Wolf recently asked Alsup again to release him, arguing that imprisonment would never have its intended effect of coercing him into relinquishing the tape and that it had crossed the line into criminal punishment. He also noted that authorities dropped charges this month against the only suspect in the police car vandalism.
The judge, however, denied release Tuesday, citing a prosecutor's statement that Wolf's lawyer, Martin Garbus, had offered to turn over the tape in exchange for a promise that Wolf would not have to identify anyone who appeared on it.
"This reveals a realistic possibility that Mr. Wolf's confinement may be having its coercive effect," Alsup said.
But Garbus said in a court filing Tuesday that prosecutors misrepresented his proposal, which was only made to gauge their interest in such a deal. Garbus said that Wolf never agreed to it and that Wolf has remained unwilling to testify or release the tape.
He's a creep. No sympathy. May he rot behind bars.
I hope Bubba the love sponge visits him often.
So does Josh.
What idiot lawyer did he have trying this defence? Imagine if all criminals said "sending me to jail won't help me stop committing crimes so I should be released.
Or maybe he was just counting on the liberal 9th circus to free a 'fellow traveler'
The lawyer is basically saying that prison does not rehabilitate. This is an old liberal argument, nothing new here.
He's guilty of more than contempt, he's willfully obstructing justice.. charge him.
This guys no martyr, but the commies will turn him into one I am sure.
No kidding. How hard can it really be to pass the bar exam?
Agreed.
Since someone was hurt, he should have turned the tape over and gone on with his life.
Apparently since it was a COP getting his head beat in, ol' Joshie thinks that's pretty cool, and the guy who did it should walk.
Let him rot.
Let him rot. He has no right to protect possibly criminal behavior.
No freedom of speech issue here at all- this was not a hidden source seeking the protection of secrecy, he simply had a film record of PUBLIC event.
Uhh, this guy isn't in jail for criminal offenses. He just tweaked some judge and is now finding out about the powers of judges to hold people in contempt of court. Google H. Beatty Chadwick to see what kind of powers are bestowed upon the Kings in black robes.
There are two types of contempt; "criminal contempt" and "civil contempt."
In this case, it is civil contempt, i.e., the imprisonment is intended to force compliance with a court's order. As soon as he complies, he is out of jail. Thus, the common saying that "he has the keys to the jailhouse door in his pocket." Judith Miller was jailed on the same theory for failing to testify about her conversations with various sources. When she agreed to testify, she was immediately set free.
Criminal contempt is not to force compliance but rather to punish contemptuous behavior. Hence it carries a specific term in jail, or fine or whatever.
In this case, the lawyer's argument is a good one, as the courts have said that once it becomes clear that someone jailed to force compliance will not comply, no matter how long they are locked up, the logic behind the jailing is no longer valid and hence he must be released.
Jack
He may be afraid the "anarchists" will kill him if he rats them out.
Unless your name is H. Beatty Chadwick and then you can end up in jail for 12 years and counting on a civil contempt charge. He's still in jail.
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