TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Jim Morrison, the charismatic front man of the Doors who died nearly 40 years ago, was granted a posthumous pardon by Florida on Thursday. Gov. Charlie Crist, one of four members of the state clemency board, led the effort to clear Morrison of his conviction for indecent exposure and profanity stemming from a notorious concert at a Miami auditorium in 1969.
Morrison, who was born in Melbourne, Fla., briefly attended Florida State University in Tallahassee, Mr. Crist’s alma mater.
The board’s action did not come without objections. Angel Lago, a retired Miami police officer, opposed the pardon, calling Morrison a “drug addict” who did not deserve it. Mr. Lago, who was a friend of one of the arresting officers, also contended that the pardon suggested that police officers had lied about what they saw at the concert. “This is the wrong message to send the youth of this country,” Mr. Lago said. “I think it’s absolutely wrong.”
Mr. Crist – who took the unusual step of speaking on Morrison’s behalf during the hearing – said there remained doubts as to whether the singer exposed himself. Another member of the clemency board, Alex Sink, the state’s chief financial officer, said it was not the job of the clemency board to “retry” his case. She said the decision to grant a pardon was recognition of Morrison’s artistic legacy and that his accomplishments had endured since his death. “We don’t know what did or did not happen,” she said.
While the board’s vote was unanimous, Attorney General Bill McCollum, a member of the panel, said he was “disturbed” by all the attention paid to a dead celebrity when the board spent hours hearing cases involving living people seeking forgiveness trying to repair their lives.
While there was only a handful of people watching the proceedings, one of them was Michael Zidanic, an avid Doors fan and collector who was visiting Tallahassee, He showed up in a black denim jack with “The Doors” written on the back.
“It’s a real relief for Doors fan all over the world,’’ said Mr. Zidanic, who later called the granting of the pardon a “historic moment” and a “moving experience.”
Alex Sink, Florida’s Chief Financial Officer and a member of the clemency board said after the meeting that if Morrison had lived a clean life for 40 years he would have been able to get a pardon anyway.
“I think we would have been right in here granting the pardon in recognition of his incredible talent,” Ms. Sink said.
Ms. Sink added that Morrison’s work lives on and even her 23-year-old son had advised her to go ahead and grant the pardon.
“He was for the pardon,” she said. “He said ‘Mom, what are you thinking?’ It’s because his music has lived across generations.”
Gov. Crist, who called Morrison a “great artist,” acknowledged the pardon received significant media attention. But he pointed out that the clemency board spent seven hours handling other cases. He said the case was not about politics since he is leaving office.
A complete statement by Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida, which was read by the governor during the clemency board meeting, appears below:
Remarks by
GOVERNOR CHARLIE CRIST
to the Florida Board of Executive Clemency
Tallahassee, Florida
December 9, 2010
James Douglas Morrison – we know him as Jim Morrison – appealed the judgment and sentence he received after being convicted 40 years ago of two misdemeanors. However, he died before his appeal could be heard.
Because he us unable to state his case for clemency before this board today, I offer to do so for him.
The charges against Mr. Morrison stemmed from his alleged actions at a now-famous 1969 musical performance by The Doors in Miami. During the trial, the prosecution attempted to prove that Mr. Morrison indecently exposed himself, simulated indecent acts, and uttered profanities.
Mr. Morrison admitted to using some of the alleged profanity; however, he denied the other charges.
During the trial, some witnesses testified they saw the alleged acts for which he was charged; however, many others testified they observed the entire concert and never saw them. In fact, so many witnesses corroborated Mr. Morrison’s testimony that the judge eventually stopped the defense from presenting any more – because their collective testimony became, what is known in legal terms as, “cumulative testimony.”
Nevertheless, a jury convicted Mr. Morrison. The judge then sentenced him to six months of hard labor.
Much controversy surrounds this conviction, and not only because many witnesses testified they did not see Mr. Morrison expose himself.
Controversy also exists because Mr. Morrison was not arrested until four days after the concert. A case was brought against him only after newspaper articles recounted the alleged events at the concert, based on a complaint filed by an employee of the state attorney’s office who attended the concert.
In addition, Mr. Morrison may have been improperly prevented from presenting evidence of “community standards” of other rock performances of the era. Such testimony would have offered cultural context for the allegations against him.
Perhaps most importantly, Mr. Morrison himself did not exercise his right to remain silent. Instead, he forcefully denied the charge that he exposed himself on stage.
Mr. Morrison appealed his judgment and sentence; however, he died before the appeal was heard. His death prevented him from exercising his right to a direct appeal, a right given to every American by the United States Constitution. If his appeal had been heard, a reviewing court could have resolved the controversies surrounding his conviction.
In addition, at the time of Morrison’s death, a convicted defendant who died before his appeal was heard was entitled to have the conviction dismissed so that he was again presumed innocent. This doctrine, known as “abatement ab initio,” wiped the slate clean – as though the conviction had never taken place. A pardon corrects the fact that Mr. Morrison is now unable to take advantage of the presumption of innocence that is the cornerstone of the American criminal justice system.
The words of an appellate judge, penned a decade before Mr. Morrison’s trial, provide insight into the question before us today: When death prevents the accused from appealing his judgment, the conviction is “a nullity” and “[j]urisdiction to determine the issue of guilt or innocence is now assumed by the ultimate arbiter of human affairs.”
In this case, guilt or innocence is in God’s hands, not ours. That is why I ask my colleagues today to pardon Jim Morrison.
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