What
happened in Miami, Florida in 1969?
The Doors
were scheduled to play a concert at the Dinner Key
Auditorium on March 1, 1969. The Doors manager, Bill
Siddons had made a deal with the Miami promoter, Ken Collier to
accept a flat fee
of $25,000 instead of sixty percent of the
gross receipts. Collier then sold betweeneight to nine
thousand tickets at more than the agreed price. Collier also removed seats to allow more people into the auditorium. An
auditorium designed to hold seven thousand people was now
packed tight with about thirteen thousand.
Jim
Morrison missed his scheduled flight into Miami and spent the time
waiting for the next flight, drinking in the airport lounge.
Once he boarded the plane he continued drinking. During a
stopover in New Orleans he missed his flight again and
consumed even more drinks waiting for the next flight.
By
the time he reached Miami he was extremely drunk. Once he
took the stage he was almost falling down drunk. He was
abusive towards the audience, he would start a song only to
stop it after a few lines, he would bum even more drinks
from members of the audience. At some point in the concert
he then asked the audience, "Do you wanna see my cock?" He
allegedly then exposed himself for a brief instant and
continued on with the show.
The next day
the Doors started a planned vacation. While out of the
country, the press in Miami had a field day with the alleged
exposure incident. Pressure was put on local officials to do
something about it. On March 5 1969, Bob Jennings from the
state attorney's office acted as complainant. A warrant was
issued for the arrest of Jim Morrison on one felony count of
lewd and lascivious behaviour and three misdemeanor counts
of indecent exposure, open profanity and drunkenness.
Jim turned
himself in to the FBI in Los Angeles on April 4, 1969. On
November 9, 1969 he entered a not guilty plea in Miami. The
trial did not start until August 12, 1970. Max Fink was
Jim's defense lawyer, the prosecuter was Terrence McWilliams
and Judge Murray Goodman presided over the case. Much
evidence was heard from witnesses for both sides. Most of it
was contradictory. On September 20, 1970 the jury found Jim
Morrison guilty on the misdemeanor charges of indecent
exposure and profanity. He was found not guilty on the
felony charge and the misdemeanor for drunkenness. He was
released on a $50,000 bond and returned to Miami on October
30, 1970 for sentencing.
Judge
Goodman sentenced Jim to six months of hard labor and a $500
fine for public exposure and sixty days of hard labor for
profanity. The sentences would run concurrently. He would be
eligible for release after two months and would be on
probation for two years and four months. His lawyer filed an
immediate appeal. Until the appeal could be heard, Jim would
be free on the $50,000 bond.
Jim Morrison
was to die in Paris, France July 3, 1971 before his legal
problems could be resolved.
