Mall Standoff Farmer Freed

After confirming that his brother would be released yesterday, George Watson began driving toward the District from the family's North Carolina farm.

Last night, George Watson said he had spoken to his brother on the telephone after his release.

"I think my brother, due to unfortunate circumstances which were unbearable, decided -- because of the man he is -- to take the warrior mentality and stand up to what was wrong,'' George Watson said. He added that though he respected the judicial process, he understood the cause for which his brother was fighting.

Relatives began celebrating yesterday before they heard the news of the appellate court's decision, and gathered for a lively barbecue at the family farm. They brought Watson's mother from her rest home for the occasion.

Now they hope to celebrate with Watson himself.

"It's just an answered prayer for him to be released and I can't wait to shake his hands outside prison walls," said David Cox, a longtime friend of Watson's from North Carolina, who went to military school with him as a boy. "I can't tell you how many phone calls I received yesterday from people here saying, 'I heard this on the news -- is it true, is Dwight coming home?' "

Federal prosecutors were unusually mum about Watson's victory. The U.S. attorney's office in Washington referred questions to the Justice Department, which made the decision to go to the appellate court. Justice officials declined to say whether they would continue to try to appeal Watson's sentence.

In their appeal, Justice Department attorneys wrote that Watson was a domestic terrorist who was convicted of a serious crime and "is obviously a danger to the community."

"We have no comment on the case," Justice spokesman John Nowacki said. "None."

The Supreme Court ruling has already had an impact across the country, and legal specialists said that it could affect thousands of cases and drastically change sentencing procedures.

Yesterday morning, one of Jackson's colleagues on the bench followed his lead and shortened a sentence he handed down the previous week.

Judge John Bates said he was compelled to re-sentence Obafemi Orenuga, a former D.C. tax auditor convicted of taking bribes from companies in exchange for illegally reducing their corporate taxes. Last week, Bates gave Orenuga a 37-month prison sentence based on some facts that Bates decided alone. Yesterday, Bates told Orenuga that he would have to serve only 24 months.

Staff writer David Nakamura contributed to this report.