Jim Morrison could get posthumous pardon: official

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Governor Charlie Crist, who steps down from his post in January, must submit a request for clemency by December 9 — the date of the last clemency hearing of the year — to clear the lead singer of The Doors of indecent exposure and profanity charges.

“The governor is considering the clemency,” Crist’s deputy press secretary Chris Cate told AFP, noting his boss has previously said he was weighing a pardon for the so-called Lizard King, who died in July 1971 at the age of 27.

Morrison was accused of displaying his penis, desecrating public morals and other crimes while drunk after a 1969 concert in Coconut Grove, south of Miami.

The request for clemency can only be submitted by the governor of Florida to a four-member body that includes the governor and the state’s chief financial officer, attorney general and agriculture commissioner. It requires a majority vote in order to be approved.

Morrison had appealed the conviction but was forced to pay bail to remain out of jail. Fearing he would be sent to prison, Morrison left for Paris, where he died.

Some claim he overdosed in a nightclub toilet and others say he died of a drug-induced heart attack in a bathtub at home.

Source: AFP Global Edition