Jim Morrison Pardoned for 1969 Indecent Exposure Incident
TALLAHASSEE, Florida (CBS/AP) Jim Morrison was posthumously pardoned Thursday for a 1970 indecent exposure conviction in Florida.
According to police, The Doors lead singer was drunk at a Miami concert in 1969 and exposed himself, which Morrison denied.
The Florida native was appealing the conviction when he was found dead in a Paris bathtub in 1971 at age 27.
The pardon came a day after the singer would have turned 67.
Outgoing Gov. Charlie Crist asked for the pardon, which the Clemency Board granted unanimously. Crist said he doubts Morrison actually exposed his penis during a rowdy March 1, 1969 concert at Miami's Dinner Key Auditorium. He and a three-member Cabinet serve as the Clemency Board.
The surviving members of The Doors supported the pardon.
Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek previously said that he never saw Morrison expose himself and none of the more than 100 photos entered into evidence showed Morrison's genitals.
"He taunted the audience. 'I'm going to show you! I'm going to show it to you!' Then he took his shirt off, held it in front of him like a bullfighter's cape, wiggled it around as if there was something going on behind it," Manzarek said.
Crist at the hearing called the conviction a "blot" on the record of an accomplished artist for "something he may or may not have done." He said Morrison died before he was afforded the chance to present his appeal, so Crist was doing that for him.
Board members pointed out several times that they couldn't retry the case but that the pardon forgave Morrison, as others were absolved of their convictions on Thursday.
The issue was brought to Crist's attention by Dave Diamond, a Doors fan from Dayton, Ohio, who wrote the governor in October.