Oakland freelance writer and radio journalist Sarah Olson (left) tells the Chronicle she is preparing to go to jail rather than verify under oath the accuracy of the quotes in a story she wrote about Army Lt. Ehren Watada, who is being court-martialed for refusing to deploy to Iraq. Olson said she doesn’t want to be part of a legal action that she believes will limit someone’s free speech. “When speech is the crime, the journalist really can be the investigative arm, the eyes and ears of the government,” she told the Chron. Olson, 31, asked the Chron’s Joe Garofoli not to portray her as “some sort of martyr.” Still she said she has spent the months since she learned she was being subpoenaed by the military emotionally preparing herself for the possibility of prison. Her boyfriend, parents and her grandfather, a military veteran, are supportive, she said. (Photo of Olson by Michael Maloney of the Chronicle.)

• Press Club, Dec. 14: Oakland freelancer gets military subpoena
• Press Club, Dec. 18: Freelancer balks at Army’s subpoena