Read Here New York Times
As Charlie Crist walks on down the hall to the end, beautiful friend, of his term as governor of Florida, he still has a few items on his agenda. Among them: the possibility that he could pardon Jim Morrison, the lead singer of the Doors, for convictions stemming from a 1969 concert appearance in Miami.
In an interview with The Hill, Mr. Crist, a Republican turned independent who was defeated last week by Marco Rubio in his bid for a United States Senate seat and whose term as governor ends in January, said “stay tuned” when asked if he would consider pardoning Morrison.
Morrison, the bohemian rock star who held the self-appointed title of Lizard King, was arrested after a March 1, 1969, concert in Miami and charged with drunkenness and lewd and lascivious behavior after some concertgoers said he exposed himself during the show. He was cleared of those charges and instead convicted of indecent exposure and profanity and sentenced to six months in jail and ordered to pay a $500 fine, though he never served any time.
Asked about a potential pardon, Mr. Crist told The Hill: “Candidly, it’s something that I haven’t given a lot of thought to, but it’s something I’m willing to look into in the time I have left. Anything is possible.” In a 2007 interview Mr. Crist — who, like Morrison, attended Florida State University — said he might consider a pardon, adding that “there was some doubt about how solid the case was.”
The Hill said that Florida’s Board of Executive Clemency, which handles pardons, would meet on Dec. 9 before Mr. Crist and three other board members leave their offices.
Either way, a pardon for Morrison would be purely ceremonial, as he died in 1971.
