(Image: A mug shot of Morrison, taken on September 20, 1970. Wikimedia Commons)
On this day in history, the Doors frontman Jim Morrison goes on trial for “lewd and lascivious behavior” at the Dade County Courthouse in Miami, Florida. The charges stem from events at the band’s concert at the Dinner Key Auditorium during a 1969 concert. Those events include the Lizard King exposing his mini lizard to the audience, which, along with some public profanity and the usual bout of Morrison public drunkenness, was enough to stir the pot in a big way. Over one wild night in Miami, Florida, the Doors singer collected no less than five misdemeanor charges and a felony one. At worst, he could have been sentenced to three years and 150 days in prison, and the Miami Herald stated at the time, “They’d crucify him if they could, they’re so worked up.”
History Daily: 365 Fascinating Happenings Volume 1 & Volume 2 – August 10, 1970
On March 1, 1969, The Doors played one of Rock History’s most famous concerts at The Dinner Key Auditorium in Miami, Florida, in what came to be referred to as the “Miami incident.” The concert’s negative ramifications would have a substantial adverse impact on The Doors’ career as several cities in their most current U.S. tour canceled the concert dates, which were in support of the newly released album “The Soft Parade.”
The Dinner Key Auditorium was a converted seaplane hangar with no air conditioning on that hot night, and the promoter removed the seats to maximize ticket sales. Morrison had been drinking alcohol all day and had missed his connecting flights to Miami. By the time he managed to get there, the concert was over an hour late, and he was, according to his bandmates, “overly fortified with alcohol.”
The restless crowd of 12,000 was packed into a location designed to hold 7,000 and was subjected to undue pauses in Morrison’s singing, his voice straining from the show’s beginning. Morrison had not long ago attended a play by a theater group, the Living Theatre, and was inspired by their “antagonistic” style of performance art. Morrison ridiculed the crowd, saying, “Love me. I can’t take it no more without no good love. I want some lovin’. Ain’t nobody gonna love my ass?” and then yelled, “You’re all a bunch of fuckin’ idiots!” and screaming “What are you gonna do about it?” again and again. As the band played their second song, “Touch Me,” Morrison started shouting in protest, causing the band to stop Morrison even took the hat of a police officer and threw it into the crowd; the officer, in turn, took Morrison’s hat and threw it.
Equipment manager Vince Treanor stated, “Somebody jumped up and poured champagne on Jim, so he took his shirt off; he was soaking wet. “Let’s see a little skin, let’s get naked,” he said, and the audience started taking their clothes off.” Having removed his shirt, Morrison draped it in front of his groin area and started making hand movements behind it. Manzarek later called the incident a mass “religious hallucination.”
On March 5, the Dade County Sheriff’s office issued a warrant for Morrison’s arrest claiming that Morrison had exposed his genitals while on stage, swore at the crowd, simulated oral sex on guitarist Robby Krieger, and was inebriated during the concert. Morrison rejected a plea bargain that required the Doors to stage a free Miami concert. Conservative protests took place around the United States, denouncing The Doors as an obscene and immoral group and demanding that Morrison be condemned to make an example of them so it would not start a trend.
On September 20, 1970, Morrison was found not guilty of lewd and lascivious behavior but was found guilty of exposing himself. At his trial in Miami, Judge Goodman condemned Morrison to six months of hard labor, a $500 fine for public exposure, and sixty days of hard labor for profanity. The sentence was appealed, but Morrison was never brought to trial because he moved to Paris, France, where he would die on July 3, 1971.
Of the Miami incident, Morrison stated:
“I wasted a lot of time and energy with the Miami trial. About a year and a half. But I guess it was a valuable experience because, before the trial, I had a very unrealistic schoolboy attitude about the American judicial system. My eyes have been opened up a bit. There were guys down there, black guys, that would go each day before I went on. It took about five minutes, and they would get twenty or twenty-five years in jail. If I hadn’t had unlimited funds to continue fighting my case, I’d be in jail right now for three years. It’s just if you have money, you generally don’t go to jail.”
In 2007 Florida Governor Charlie Crist floated the chance of a posthumous pardon for Morrison, which was passed on December 9, 2010. The Doors members Densmore, Krieger, and Manzarek have denied the allegation that Morrison exposed himself on stage that night. Though the concert was not filmed, Oliver Stone’s re-enactment in the 1991 biopic “The Doors” has been considered the closest on film to what happened in Miami that night.
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