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The Doors of Forgiveness
He lies in eastern Paris at the Pere Lachaise cemetery. Jim Morrison, lead singer, songwriter of The Doors died July 3rd, 1971 age, 27.In 970, at a concert in Miami, police state that a drunken Morrison exposed himself on stage. He was arrested and charged with indecent exposure and profanity. Morrison denied it and was in the process of appealing the convictions but died in Paris the next year. The case was closed.
Legend:He disappeared because he did not want to go to jail. Was sick of being perceived as a sex symbol. Wanted to be taken seriously. Wanted to be known as a poet instead of a rock star.
Now Morrison’s mojo appears to be rising from his grave in Paris. The Governor of Florida, Charlie Crist has set the judicial wheels in motion that will pardon Morrison, but even in death, Morrison appears to pose a problem. There are no procedures for posthumous pardons. The Governor’s legal team is presently looking for a loophole that will allow the state to create a posthumous pardon. How do you do it? How do you break on through to the other side? Recently the governor said. “Morrison died when he was 27. That’s really a kid, when you think about it, and obviously he was having some challenges. There is some dispute about how solid the case was anyway.”
Note:What difference is a pardon going to make anyway?
Jim Morrison was born in Melbourne, Florida. Doors keyboardist, Ray Manzarak was ecstatic when her heard news about the imminent pardon. “You know what would really be nice? Florida is Jim’s home state. He’s a Florida boy. Wouldn’t it be great if Florida could finally say, ‘Hey, native son, your name is cleared. We recognize you as a young American poet.’”
Fact: In Melbourne, Florida, people don’t care about Jim Morrison. There is nothing there, not even a cardboard sign that proclaims Morrison is a native son. The truth is nobody gives a damn. And that is sad.
Again, this is Jim Morrison; controversy is part of the legacy he left behind. There are many who state that Morrison was a great songwriter but to elevate him to the position of a bard would be foolish. His fans say that Morrison wrote poetry, good or bad, he is still a poet. However, there is no controversy about ‘The 27 Club’ that Jim Morrison belongs to. Robert Johnson, Jimi Hendrix, Brian Jones, Janis Joplin and Kurt Cobain all died at the age of 27. They were all famous rock stars. There are many who believe that Morrison faked his death to get away from it all, a poet’s exit into the realm of nowhere. Now, in the land of his birth, he is going to be pardoned. Another door closes on the legend of James Douglas Morrison.
Comment by Dave Diamond
Posted on May 1, 2007 at 4:59 pm
Inside the Jim Morrison Pardon Quest: Going Back To Miami
By Dave Diamond
There is an effort underway by the Doors Collectors Magazine, a popular online Doors fan site, to request the Governor of Florida Charlie Crist to consider an unprecedented full and absolute posthumous pardon for the late famed Doors lead singer Jim Morrison, a citizen of Melbourne Florida. The effort was initiated in 1996, when several infractions about the September 1970 conviction of Jim Morrison stemming from the now infamous March 1969 Doors concert put on at the Dinner Key Auditorium were discovered upon re-review of this case.
Over the years, efforts to make the general music media and many elements of Florida government aware of these infractions and trying to shed new light on evidence never before heard or having not been allowed to be presented at the initial trial, have been met with basic apathy, misinformation, rumors, speculations and public “arm chair” jurying. The end result of the unchallenged convictions have come to be accepted by most Doors fans and the mainstream press as nothing more than the typical myth and mystique that surround most of the legendary bands from the Sixties, often retold as facts to generation after generation. Many in the music press over the years have cemented Jim Morrison’s “iconic” outlaw image largely due to the notoriety of this particular case, thus diminishing his true contribution to popular American music and literature.
In a true twist of irony, Morrison’s actions on that abysmal evening in Miami served to end what has now become accepted as his “Lizard King” stature, thus attempting to change his image into a more simple poet weary of the public excess. Ensuing years saw many fans and historians come to accept him as a martyr for the 1st Amendment, an outlaw who fought the law, a pure symbol of freedom against the oppresive and turbulent times of the Sixties. Many longtime Doors fans, including the band members themselves, saw this particular concert as the end of all that was legit with this band and their live performances, an innocence gone. On the other hand, some fans latched onto the notoriety, largely due to the music press & politcians who were hell bent on making Morrison the cherry on the cake of the Sixties’ excess.
When the image, the music, the Sixties, Vietnam, the press, individual historical interpretation, the general apathy and all of those other elements are stripped away, what’s left is the law and the Miami case itself. The effort of the Doors Collectors Magazine has been examining the 1970 Miami trial for 11 years, without thought to anything outside of the case itself. Upon in-depth review of the case, several well documented Constitutional violations were found, violations that very simply denied true justice in this case. Morrison’s defense was barred from presenting key evidence and witnesses who could have clearly exonerated him. Morrison had the right to confront his accusers, but the then-Mayor of Dade County and the officials who brought the charges on did not appear for testimony. Many of the witnesses that were present had no real consistent recollections of the Miami concert. Witness accounts varied and memory lapses were frequent.
Forget for a moment that he IS Jim Morrison. We looked at this from the standpoint that he was a citizen of Florida who was denied true justice for several reasons. It was a politically motivated case to begin with. There are musicians, bands and performers over the years who have done far worse that pop off some profanity onstage and they were never arrested and charged. The officials involved in the Morrison case were under pressure to act. If Jim Morrison had INDEED committed the offenses at hand, he would have been arrested that night during or directly after the Miami performance just as he was during the now infamous 1968 New Haven concert, where he was maced in the eyes by a police officer before the show. During the Miami performance, the police had no probable cause to arrest Jim Morrison and they didn’t. In fact, it was proven that many of the police officers in attendance that night were seen laughing, joking and hanging out with The Doors before, during and after the show. If there was no cause for arrest during that timeframe, then the ensuing charges only underscore the political pressure that followed.
With regard to the now legendary question of the alleged exposure, there are no credible witnesses, photographs or any film/video that can prove with 100% certainty that this incident occured. Under oath in the Dade Couty Court, during his 1970 trial, Jim Morrison testified that he did not expose himself. The jury found him GUILTY of this charge even though the State of Florida could not & did not LEGALLY prove this incident happened beyond a reasonable doubt!
Further, the charge of public intoxication is mind boggling in how the jury handled this. There are several audio CDs out there that clearly demonstrate that Morrison was intoxicated. Morrison was found NOT GUILTY on the charge of public intoxication by the jury! What exactly was WRONG with this jury? How exactly did they base their findings? Why didn’t the Florida press pick up on this right then and there?
It is common knowledge that Jim Morrison remained free on bail, pending appeal. He died July 3rd, 1971, but that’s NOT where the story ends! His appeal was never heard! THAT point right there is what led to the formation of this current pardon effort, in light of two legal precedents that have come to light in the last few years, that when compared and applied to Morrison’s conviction, paint a much different picture.
1. December 23, 2003- New York Governor George Pataki issued an official Pardon to famed Sixties comedian Lenny Bruce. Pataki called his decision, the first posthumous pardon in New York state history, “a declaration of New York’s commitment to upholding the First Amendment.”
2. On October 17, 2006, Enron founder Ken Lay died prior to exhausting his appeals, his conviction was abated. Precedent in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal appellate court governing the district where Lay was indicted, indicates that abatement had to be automatically granted. When abatement occurs, the law views it as though he had never been indicted, tried and convicted. The government opposed Lay’s attorneys’ motion for abatement, and the Department of Justice issued a statement that it “remains committed to pursuing all available legal remedies and to reclaim for victims the proceeds of crimes committed by Ken Lay.”
Jim Morrison himself had this to say in 1971, months before his passing to LA reporter Bob Chorush about the Miami verdicts: “I got acquitted on everything else. We were trying to get this erased because it’s not good to have something like that on your record. It’s just if something really serious happens then you have a record and it looks a lot worse. The trouble with all these busts is that people I know, friends of mine, think it’s funny and they like to believe it’s true and they accept it; people that don’t like me like to believe it because I’m the reincarnation of everything they consider evil. I get hung both ways.”
It doesn’t matter if one is a fan of Jim Morrison or not. What matters here is a citizen of Florida was convicted in the Dade County Criminal Court in a case where due process of law was not properly applied. These facts, in light of the newer precedents, can no longer be ingnored by the State of Florida. It is the intention of Doors Collectors Magazine to provide Governor Crist with all resources available to seriously consider a pardon and finally after almost forty years, bring this case to a close once and for all. If it could happen to Jim Morrison, it could happen to any one of us! In the interest of true justice and closure for the Morrison family, it is being asked of Governor Crist to issue the pardon and abate Case# 69-2355 State of Florida vs. James Douglas Morrison off the current and future Florida law books.
Comment by Robert Sarrano
Posted on May 2, 2007 at 7:11 am
Jim Morrison is dead. What he contributed as a songwriter was great. Yes the pardon will do little in the way of redemption, but who really cares. Morrison did not want to go to heaven or hell, he just wanted to push the borders of life.Maybe he was not a great poet, another Dylan Thomas, Blake or Wordsworth, so what…. Morrison was an interesting human being and artist. Give him his due. They may not give a damn in Florida about Jim Morrison but remember, all over the world there are people who care and love his work. He gave us great music, great lyrics and that in itself is poetry. Jim Morrison’s mojo will always be rising, darkly through the future. So let him be. Don’t criticize what you can’t understand, the door that Morrison cracked open for us all is still open and for that we have to thank him.
Comment by Dave Diamond
Posted on May 3, 2007 at 6:25 pm
Robert, thanks, but this effort is being pursued as a matter of law, not image or poetic contribution. This effort is about the integrity of the Florida criminal justice system and upholding the Constitution. This is much bigger to us than whether certain people in Florida care or not. But, I do agree with what you are saying from your point of view.
Comment by Robert Sarrano
Posted on May 5, 2007 at 7:56 am
Dave Diamond, you were the one who petitioned the governor of Florida. Am I correct? You were not mentioned on the original blog (You should have been) by Godfrey. Anyway, I am not trying to argue here, or maybe I am, in a good sort of way.
Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied. Agreed?
Now after all these years if the State of Florida pardons Mr James Douglas Morrison what does that mean? Does the State concede that Mr Morrison was NOT GUILTY? Or does it mean that he was guilty, but since he is dead we are commuting his sentence. What does a pardon mean legally? By expunging his record does the state mean that The State made a mistake back then by convicting Morrison. And if that is so, is the State not setting itself up for a legal back lash? What I am trying to say is this. By pardoning Morrision will the State of Florida admit that they were wrong? And if they admit that they were wrong and blackened the good name of Morrison someone is going to sue them on Morrison’s behalf. Once again, I don’t know what a pardon really entails legally, all the fine print.
Is this all as confusing as I am making it out to be.
Oh and one more thing. Why was Jim Morrison called The Lizard King? Why ‘Lizard” and why ‘King’ Yeaaa, I ask a lot of questions but one thing’s for sure that Morrison had the guts to be different. For that he lived, for that he died.Yea, he’s out there somewhere in a house of detention, looking at his cancelled subscription to the resurrection. Yea. Jim Morrison.
Comment by Dave Diamond
Posted on May 6, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Robert, thanks, you are correct, justice delayed is jutice denied. I am one of several hundred people that petitioned the Governor. It was my letter that was picked up by the AP & Reuters and that’s how this whole thing exploded. The State of Florida was very wrong, yes. No different than when they went after 2 Live Crew many years ago. But, in the Morrison case, he was found guilty on something the State could not legally prove beyond a reasonable doubt, but he was found NOT GUILTY on something he was clearly guilty of, the public intox. What was wrong with that jury? The bottom line of this whole thing is they need to close this matter because his appeal was never heard. Under the Constitution, you cannot have an appeal just hanging out there, blowing in the wind….the Enron guys’ case was thrown out very quickly after his death and the same should happen here.
Comment by Robert Sarrano
Posted on May 8, 2007 at 6:51 am
Thanks Diamond. I hope that the pardon comes through. The next thing to do is put Morrison on a plane. From Paris to Melbourne. Bring him home.Have you given it a thought? The (beep) French will want to keep him there for obvious financial reasons. But hey, stolen art works are often returned to their country of origin. So…why can’t Morrison be returned to America.He is an American art work. So…….? It’s just a thought. Thanks Diamond. Shine On.
Comment by Daniel Clementa
Posted on May 18, 2007 at 7:28 am
This Jim Morrison was a drunk. He built a halo of the Rock Star around his head and woke up one day to find that it was boring. So he wanted to be a poet. Well he is no poet. Bob Dylan is a poet. Leonard Cohen is a poet. Not Jim Morrison. He believed in chaos, only when he was drunk. Taunting audiences with threats of showing them his private parts is not chaotic thinking. It is stupidity. The Doors official web site, till date I believe, has his parents listed as DEAD. Now that is poetry for you!
That is what I said in the beginning. He built this Jim Morrison image and then tried to get away from it. Sure the Doors are a great Rock n Roll band. Again, how much of the Doors Lyrics did Morrison actually write. People, don’t get carried away. The legend is great, the facts are boring. For example. After the Doors cut a song, I forget which one, Jim Morrison is reported to have later gone into the studio when no one was there and set the place on fire to sanctify the place. What a great ritual. Now in a book written by the keyboard player Ray Manzarak, he states that Morrison was high on LSD, and seen some blinking red consol lights and thought that the place was on fire. Look how facts twist to fit the legend. But a spade is a spade, any which way you look at it. But hey, if Morrison still rocks your boat, groove on. I mean the Greeks believed that The Gods lived on Mount Olympus. Rock On Plato.
Comment by Richard Leeman
Posted on May 24, 2007 at 9:39 am
Yo, Clementa. So Jim Morrison was a drunk. So…. He fronted one of the most successful Rock n’ Roll bands in the history of rock music. He created great tunes, had a great voice. Sure he had his problems, like we all do. But, the man was good at what he did.
What have you done with your life, Mr Clementa? If you don’t think Morrison is a poet, that is alright. Morrison is a legend because he had that special something that set him apart from millions of other human beings. Just what it is I don’t know. But for you to come out and start bashing him is kinda unfair. The music is good. Listen to it. That is all that matters. Morrison being a drunk is of no consequence. The music, man, that is what matters.
Comment by Daniel Clementa
Posted on May 24, 2007 at 5:29 pm
Leeman, you are missing the point here. I did acknowledge that The Doors were a great band. Yea, I have listened to the music, man! Don’t you worry about that. What I am trying to say here is that Morrison was a victim of his own creation. If you want to cling to the legend that’s alright by me. Do yourself a favor, try to seperate the man from the legend. It is a hard thing to do. Then, maybe, just maybe you will come to a better understanding of who Jim Morrison really was. That is all I am saying. Remember Morrison was young. We all do stupid things when we are young.
And by the way, I am doing just fine with my life.Thank you for asking. You don’t have to get snippy.I thought we were having a discussion here. Guess I was wrong.Guess who’s not listening to the music!
Comment by Nelson Banks
Posted on July 19, 2007 at 10:34 am
Jim Morison, it seems, still has the ability to create passion. From what I read in all the above comments, Morrison is still alive.
The fact remains that today, The music of The Doors still endures. It has staying power. There were thousands of other bands during that period, they have all been forgotten.
The question here is. Does it matter what kind of a human being Morrison was. Does it matter? Or, should we just listen to the brilliance of the creations and forget the man behind the lyrics and tunes? Poets and artists, through the ages, some of them, led pretty debauched lives, but their creations were divine. Should a person say, Oh, Dylan Thomas was an alcoholic, so I am not going to read his work! That does not make sense to me. A work of art stands by itself, it defines itself, it speaks for itself. It does not matter,if the man or woman who painted it was roaring drunk when he or she was creating. The people who dwell on the personal lives of artists are venturing into the field of gossip.