Gary Fineout for the Miami Herald reports: TALLAHASSEE -- Jim Morrison, native Floridian, one-time Florida State University student and charismatic rock star, could get a new label if fans have their way: pardoned criminal.
Convicted of exposing himself during a notorious Miami concert in 1969, the lead singer for The Doors was sentenced to six months in jail. But he died in a Paris bathtub of heart failure in 1971, before his appeal was heard.
Nearly 36 years later, some of his fans want his record cleared. And they have asked Gov. Charlie Crist, himself an FSU alum, to consider a posthumous pardon.
''He's a 'Nole? Well, given that fact, I'm certainly willing to review it,'' Crist joked recently, before singing a few lines from Light My Fire.
(…)
But Crist can't pardon someone by himself. He needs two of the three other members of the Florida Cabinet, which acts as the clemency board. Plus there are no procedures to request a posthumous pardon: A spokeswoman for the state Parole Commission, which investigates clemency cases, said no one is sure it's ever been done before.
Morrison was charged days after a chaotic concert at Dinner Key Auditorium in Coconut Grove in March 1969. The singer gave rambling monologues, cursed and exhorted concertgoers to have sex with each another. Morrison was also alleged to have pulled down his pants and feigned masturbation, which he denied doing. The trial featured contradictory accounts. He was eventually acquitted of a felony charge of lewd and lascivious behavior, but was convicted of indecent exposure and profanity. via Crooks and Liars
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