Jim Morrison Pardoned!

newo · Dec 9, 2010

Hey, it only took 40 years!

Jim Morrison was pardoned today for his indecent exposure conviction. Florida’s clemency board voted unanimously on Thursday to grant a posthumous pardon to Jim Morrison, the lead singer for the Doors.

Jim Morrison's Mug Shot

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.
Click to expand...

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/09/jim-morrison-is-pardoned-in-indecent-exposure-case/

skip · Dec 9, 2010

Yeah Jim! Vindickated at last!

guerillabedlam · Dec 9, 2010

Just in time, he must be getting up there in age.

vigilanteherbalist2 · Dec 9, 2010

I saw his widow being interviewed. She said he wouldn't have wanted a pardon but something like and expunge

newo · Dec 9, 2010

Some say he did, some say he didn't. Wouldn't surprise me either way. It will still be forever a part of his mystique.

Eye_Of_The_Ganja · Dec 9, 2010

This is retarded. It took them long enough.

In all honesty, I believe he did it. I mean, it was his personality. However, come on.

Duck · Dec 9, 2010

I don't get why the government does this sorta silly stuff.

I wonder if they ever pardoned the Salem witches.

Delfynasa · Dec 9, 2010

its about darned time! About the Salem witches, hmmmmmmmm not sure but think they were pardoned..
peace
Delfynasa

el.salvador · Dec 10, 2010

Jim Morrison was an excellent performer. He was never afraid to express himself on and off the stage. What he did during that concert was simply a form of self expression. People who were offended by what he did must know the difference between indecent exposure and the art of expressing oneself through artistic performance....

shaggie · Dec 10, 2010

Don't flee to France. Convictions can be overturned.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/2-live-crew-members-are-acquitted-of-obscenity-charges

.

newo · Dec 10, 2010

el.salvador said:

Jim Morrison was an excellent performer. He was never afraid to express himself on and off the stage. What he did during that concert was simply a form of self expression. People who were offended by what he did must know the difference between indecent exposure and the art of expressing oneself through artistic performance....
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I'm a big Doors fan, but you're being too kind. Other members of the Doors say he was drunk on his ass that night, pissing off the crowd while putting on a sloppy performance. Ray Manzarek said he didn't actually expose himself, just faked it, but some audience members claim they did see his dick. Whatever. I don't see much point in pardoning him posthumously, in fact I doubt he'd have wanted it.

jmt · Dec 10, 2010

beating the system from the grave!!! ftw

WanderingturnupII · Dec 10, 2010

The Lizard King don't need no stinkin' pardon, and this does not make Charlie Crist one of the kewl kidz all of a sudden.

acid_tripz222 · Dec 10, 2010

bout time!

granny_longhair · Dec 11, 2010

newo said:

I'm a big Doors fan, but you're being too kind. Other members of the Doors say he was drunk on his ass that night, pissing off the crowd while putting on a sloppy performance. Ray Manzarek said he didn't actually expose himself, just faked it, but some audience members claim they did see his dick. Whatever. I don't see much point in pardoning him posthumously, in fact I doubt he'd have wanted it.
Click to expand...

True. One must also be careful not to confuse artistic accomplishments with what the artist was actually like as a human being. I always loved the Doors' music. I still do. They were creative, lyrical, and virtuoso musicians.

But Morrison, for all his talents, was an abusive, loud-mouthed drunk. He was often boorish and loutish on stage. The rest of the band were sick of his antics and unreliability.

He was not a "beloved" figure. Morrison's legacy is his music, not his humanity. I don't know what on earth this pardon is supposed to prove.

newo · Dec 11, 2010

jmt said:

beating the system from the grave!!! ftw
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The Lizard King CAN do anything!

52~unknown~52 · Dec 12, 2010

they were probably just all bored down at the office or wherever they do this shit aand were just like :what can we do now:? lol

shaggie · Dec 12, 2010

52~unknown~52 said:

they were probably just all bored down at the office or wherever they do this shit aand were just like :what can we do now:? lol
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See my post earlier in this thread about what the police in Florida tried to do to 2 Live Crew in the 90s.

Check out this story about the ordeal a woman went through for going bare-breast at a Rainbow gathering in the woods in Florida. It took four years to overturn the conviction.

http://www.afn.org/~iguana/archives/1997_01/19970108.html

.

52~unknown~52 · Dec 12, 2010

shaggie said:

See my post earlier in this thread about what the police in Florida tried to do to 2 Live Crew in the 90s.

Check out this story about the ordeal a woman went through for going bare-breast at a Rainbow gathering in the woods in Florida. It took four years to overturn the conviction.

http://www.afn.org/~iguana/archives/1997_01/19970108.html

.
Click to expand...

damn, that is a long time to be bull-shitted around.
to be honest if it were me i would have just put my shirt on, and taken it off again once the pigs went away....

Mason Grey · Dec 12, 2010

haha
cool i guess..................
this kind of thing seems like self-congratulatory, masturbatory, backslapping to me......
good on us!!!!...........

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