THEREUPON: JAMES DOUGLAS MORRISON the defendant herein, was recalled as a witness on his own behalf, and being first duly sworn, was examined and testified further on his oath as follows: DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR FINK Q: Mr. Morrison, while you were on stage March 1 at Dinner Key last year, did you hear any catcalls from the audience? Jim: Yes, I did.     Q: Can you describe in general what happened in that respect? (objection, overruled.) Jim: Would you please repeat it? I wasn't sure what you mean.     Q: Would you describe the sound or the words you heard called up from the audience; were there any four-letter words used, in other words? Jim: Yes, sir.     Q: Can you think of what they were, any of the four-letter words we hear about? Jim: You know, just all the so-called obscene words .     Q: While you were on stage I think you described your cowhide trousers and the-straps with which they are fastened. Will you tell me, sir, do those trousers have pockets? Jim: No, they don't.     Q: Did you, on that particular night while you were on stage place your hand inside the trousers? Jim: Yes, I did.     Q: To what extent, if you could tell us particularly. Jim: Well, since the pants don't have pockets, sometimes I put my hand in, you know, with the thumb hanging out in lieu of pockets, in the waist of the pants.     Q: Do you have any idea how many pictures were taken of you that night other than what you have seen here in court? Jim: No, I don't know. There were a lot of flashbulbs going off, a lot of cameras right around the front of the stage. There were probably quite a few.     Q: By the way, did there come a time when you took your shirt off? Jim: Yes.     Q: Can you describe the circumstances? Jim: I don't know. It's not a normal thing in a performance but it is not unusual. (objection, overruled.) Jim: It is not something I do every time but I have done it and it was exceedingly hot and I took the shirt off.     Q: Was there a bottle or a jug, something that has been described as a jug at times, a green bottle at times, any type of liquid that you poured on the head of someone else who was in the act with you? Jim: Yes, sir. At a time during the performance, about half way through, I guess, I can't remember exactly, somebody passed up a bottle of champagne on the stage or someone behind the stage passed it up and I didn't drink out of it because champagne is too ... - I don't know. It makes me belch drinking it, so I just poured some out on someone and he seemed to get a kick out of it.     Q: By the way, have you seen that man since then? Jim: Yes, I saw him. He was a young guy about 18. I saw him in the courtroom during the early part of the proceedings.     Q: What was his reaction; was he happy or unhappy? (objection, sustained.)     Q: At the time that you poured the champagne, was this a gag or something you did out of.animosity of any kind? Jim: No, it was a joke.     Q: So far as you observed this man and the audience, did they appear to enjoy it? (objection, sustained.)     Q: Did you at any time for five seconds or eight seconds or any other length of time exhibit any male organ of your body? Jim: No, sir.     Q: Did you at any time unbutton, or we are talking about these two straps having rings you have to insert, double to fasten them, did you at any time undo those two straps? Jim: No, I did not.     Q: When you removed your shirt, did your shorts that you were wearing -- you were wearing shorts, were you? Jim: Right.     Q: Do they extend above the belt line? (objection, sustained.)     Q: Would you describe the shorts, please? Jim: Yes. They were the boxer type and it was kind of unusual, really, because I don't usually wear undergarments. I got out of the habit about four or five years ago, I guess, but I had them on this night for some reason and they were oversize, so they were extending above the waist of the pants.     Q: Did you do anything with the shorts by reason of the oversize? Jim: Yes. They were extending up so far that I rolled them down over the top of the pants.     Q: I show you here Prosecution's Exhibit No. 6 which shows you without a shirt, I believe. Is that correct? Jim: Right.     Q: And there appears to be over the belt line some other material visible. Is that your shorts? Jim: Right, that's right.     Q: Now, there appears in this picture to be a number of people down below the level of you. Is this Ray Manzarek here? Jim: It looks like him. I don't believe that is him.     Q: Robby Krieger? Jim: That looks like him but I don't believe it is. I don't think he had a shirt like that on that night. They just look like people from the audience.     Q: Are these people down below; were they on the stage or down below the stage? Jim: They were on the floor level.     Q: This was indicated to be an enlargement of this little photograph up on the righthand corner of the second page of this exhibit. Will you look at that? Can you make out anybody except yourself in that little photograph? Jim: Do you mean do I recognize anyone else?     Q: Anyone except yourself. Jim: I can see there is Ray over to the left. This photograph cuts off part of the original picture. I can see him and there is one of the security men in that small-brimmed hat. You can see him by the amplifier.     Q: In other words, this enlargement, that is the top page of this Exhibit 6, crops off part of what you can see on the little tiny film, I think we indicated to be number 11 on the roll? Jim: Right.     Q: So there is more visible so far as area is concerned, on the small little print? Jim: On the small one, right.     Q: May I pass this again to the jury so that they may know what we are talking about at the moment? .... Did there come a time during The Doors' performance after you came on stage when the audience started to move, push forward toward the stage? Jim: Yes, sir. I think it may have been during the last song.     Q: What was your last song? Jim: "Light My Fire" I believe.     Q: Did you thereafter leave the stage? Jim: I left the stage by jumping into the audience and then moved from there up to the side stairs to the balcony.     Q: When you went up to the balcony, did you go to the dressing room? Jim: That's right.     Q: Can you tell us approximately, from the time you left the stage until the time you left Dinner Key Auditorium that night, approximately how much time passed? Jim: I would say we were in the dressing room after the show at least two hours.     Q: What did you do there? Jim: Relax, had a few beers, soft drinks, talked to friends, and signed some autographs. It is kind of a usual thing after a concert for people to come up.     Q: Did you see any policemen in your dressing room after you retired to the dressing room? Jim: Yes, I remember seeing a couple. The officer that had his hat thrown into the audience came up and was compensated for his hat and he shook hands with everyone and I believe there was at least one other policeman that came in at one time.     Q: From time to time while you were up in your dressing room did you also walk out to the balcony with your friends? Jim: Yes, and wave down at the people who were leaving.     Q: The time when you walked out of your dressing room onto the stage, did you have a view of the room below you, of this big hall below you? Jim: Yes, sir.     Q: Did you see police officers there from time to time as you looked down at the hall in addition to the ones that you saw in your dressing room? Jim: I may have but I can't really remember seeing any, didn't know, just didn't make an impression on me if I did.     Q: When you left Dinner Key, where did you go? Jim: We were all staying at the Hilton Plaza, I think the name of it was.     Q: The name has been changed since to Plaza? Jim: Right.     Q: Did you remain overnight at your hotel? Jim: That's right.     Q: Did you leave the following day? Jim: Yes, the next morning I had lunch in the restaurant of the hotel and then took a cab out to the airport.     Q: By the way, calling your attention to a few months before this concert, had you made any plans for the first week in March? (objection, sustained.)     Q: Did you at any time after you left Miami March 2nd, was anything called to your attention with regard to the article in the press in Miami? (objection, sustained.) (Discussion.)     Q: Mr. Morrison, on the lst day of March, 1969 and in the few months that followed that date did you have any attorney or representative in the State of Florida? Jim: No, sir.     Q: Who was your attorney at that time and prior to that time? (objection, sustained.)     Q: Did you tell or authorize anyone to do anything for you in the State of Florida starting on March 2nd of 1969 and for the next several months thereafter? (objection, overruled.) Jim: Upon leaving Miami the day after the concert I went down to Jamaica and I didn't have a phone or any contact with the United States for about four days, so by the time I finally called someone, it was the first time I knew anything about any of these events so I hadn't done anything about it.     Q: When you say events, what do you have reference to? Jim: I called a friend and found out the newspapers were full of... (objection, sustained.) (Motion to strike, granted.)     Q: When did you make arrangements to go to Jamaica ... by the way, did all the fellows go? Jim: Right, we all went.     Q: When did you make those arrangements? (objection, sustained.) (Discussion.)     Q: Mr. Morrison, you mentioned that you and your fellow members of The Doors went to Jamaica. Tell us, when were your reservations for Jamaica? Jim: I can't recall exactly but it must have been at least three weeks before we came down here because they would have to be done, you know, ahead of time.     Q: Approximately when were they made? (objection, overruled.) Jim: I would say about three or four weeks.     Q: Before March the lst? Jim: Right.     Q: Of 1969? Jim: That's right. CROSS EXAMINATION BY MR. McWILLIAMS Q: Mr. Morrison, you don't remember too clearly the events of the evening, do you? (objection, sustained.)     Q: Do you remember clearly all events of that evening? Jim: Well, it would be difficult to answer that with a simple yes or no. If I could go into it in a little more detail I could give a better answer.     Q: How much beer did you have in the dressing room? Jim: I don't remember exactly.     Q: There were two six-packs in the dressing room, isn't that a fact? Jim: Right. That is for after the concert.     Q: These were brought into the dressing room before the concert, isn't that a fact? Jim: Right, to get cold.     Q: Is it a fact you demanded these be brought in or you wouldn't perform? Jim: I honestly can't remember.     Q: How many of those two six-packs ... it was Budweiser,wasn't it? Jim: I don't remember.     Q: How many of those two six-packs of beer did you have? (objection, sustained.)     Q: Prior to going on stage how many of those two six-packs of beer did you have? Jim: Well, I can't remember the exact number but I will say since I arrived only a few minutes before the concert started, I think I had one with a sandwich. I may have had one other one.     Q: You heard testimony that John Densmore didn't have any, isn't that right? Jim: I heard testimony to that effect.     Q: He didn't have any, did he? Jim: I don't remember.     Q: Ray Manzarek didn't have more than one have more than one or two, isn't that a fact? Jim: Well, I don't count how many beers they drink, you know.     Q: Do you deny you were drinking out of that champagne bottle on the stage? Do you deny that? Jim: Yes, I deny that.     Q: Do you deny saying that evening in front of all those people, "You are all a bunch of fucking idiots." Do you deny that? Jim: No.     Q: Do-you deny saying, "Your faces are being pressed into the shit of the world."? Jim: No.     Q: Do-you deny saying, "Take your fucking friend and love him"? Jim: No, I don't deny that either.     Q: Do you deny saying, "Do you want to see my cock?"? Jim: Yes.     Q: What words did you use when you called out you wanted to see some nakedness. Jim: That was at the time I removed my shirt and it was something to the effect of, "Let's have a little nakedness."     Q: You have heard at least three of your own witnesses say that you said, "Do you want to see my cock," didn't you? (objection, overruled.) Jim: I have heard witnesses testify they heard that phrase but I can't remember how many or whether they were defense or prosecution witnesses.     Q: Take David Levine, your first witness, your expert photographer. Do you remember David Levine saying when I asked him if he heard you say, "Do.you want to see my cock" ... (objection, sustained.)     Q: Are you saying that the defense witnesses that so testified were not telling the truth? (objection, sustained.)     Q: Did you have any disability that evening? Jim: No.     Q: You heard witnesses testify you were bumping into things on the stage. (objection, sustained.)     Q: Isn't it a fact you were bumping into your instruments walking up toward the stage, getting up on the stage, isn't that a fact? Jim: I don't play an instrument. I don't even get near them.     Q: Do you deny bumping into your instruments, as you got onto the stage, into the instruments that were on the stage? (objection.)     Q: Did you or did you not bump into the instruments on stage during your performance? Jim: That would depend what you mean bumping into it.     Q: Answer yes or no. Did you or did you not? Jim: First you have to explain. (objection, overruled.)     Q: Did you or did you not bump into the instruments that were on stage? Jim: I can't answer that. I don't understand what you mean.     Q: Did you or did you not stagger on your way from the dressing room? Jim: No, I didn't stagger.     Q: You walked normally, perfectly straight? Jim: That's right. (objection, sustained.)     Q: Your singing was off that night, wasn't it, off timing? Jim: I am sure that you are aware that that is just a matter of opinion. (objection, motion to strike denied.)     Q: Was it or was it not off timing? Jim: What is timing? (objection.)     Q: Answer the question. Jim: Well, some people think I sing off key but I don't and some people might think I sing off time. I might not. It is a matter ...     Q: You were there, weren't you? Jim: Yes.     Q: Was your singing off timing or not? Jim: In my opinion it was right on.     Q: You heard the tape. Jim: Yes.     Q: Was your singing right on time, is that what you are telling the jury? Jim: There is no definition of timing. It is all subjective.     Q: It was right on time, is that right? Jim: That was my answer.     Q: Was that the best you could do, what you heard on the tape? (objection, sustained.)     Q: In your direct examination you described your pants. Were they tailor made, is that what you said? Jim: Right.     Q: They were tailor made to fit very tightly the lower part of your abdomen, is that what you said? Jim: No.     Q: Tell me again how were your pants tailor made; what did you say? Jim: Why don't you go back and reread the testimony?     The court: Answer the question. Jim: To the best of my recollection I testified that they were custom made leather pants that tightly contoured the lower part of my body.     Q: You also testified that you don't usually wear undergarments, isn't that a fact? Jim: Right.     Q: These pants were tailor made for your performance, isn't that a fact? Jim: No, just for wearing. I don't wear anything different in a performance than I would on the street.     Q: In other words, your pants were tailor made to give maximum exposure of your genital area, isn't that a fact? Jim: Huh-uh.     Q: Yes or no. Jim: No.     Q: Why did you have them tailor made to tightly fit, tightly cover the lower part of your body? Jim: Well, it looks better and it feels better that way.     Q: Now, when you put your thumbs in your pants, is that as far as they went, just your thumbs over the edge of your pants? Jim: No, what I meant was the four fingers inside with the thumb hooked on the waist of the pants.     Q: But you never got down as far as your wrist, all the way down into your pants, did you? Jim: No.     Q: You remember the events that evening, isn't that a fact? Jim: Well, I do, but I could explain that a little further if you would like. (Discussion.) Jim: If you ask me if I remember that concert, there have been years when I have done 200 concerts in 365 days. I have memories of all of them but the memory of this concert a year and a half ago does not stick out in my mind any more than a score of other concerts I have performed at.     Q: You haven't thought about this one any more than any others? Jim: Well, I have, yes.     Q: Did you have any fungus that evening? Jim: You mean like athlete's foot or something like that?     Q: Did you have a fungus in your lower abdominal area that evening? Jim: God, I hope not.     The court: Just answer the question. Did you have some type of medical infirmity that evening in your lower abdominal region? Jim: No. (Thereupon, State's Exhibit 1-M for Identification was so marked.) (objection, overruled.)     Q: I show you what has been marked as State's Identification Exhibit 1-M and ask you if you can identify the person in those photographs. Jim: Most of the photographs appear to be of me and I see Robbie and Ray and John, also.     Q: Do you recognize the clothing that you are wearing in the photographs? Jim: Yes.     Q: Do these photographs truly and accurately represent you on stage March lst, 1969? Jim: Yes. (Discussion.) (Thereupon, State's Exhibit No. 9 was received in evidence and so marked.)     Q: I show you State's Exhibit No. 9 and ask you to look at the photograph that you have just identified and ask you to explain how, if only the tips of your fingers were in your pants, how the photographer made a mistake? Jim: Would you point out the photograph in question?     Q: How about the little photograph with the little number 23 on it. What vere you doing? Jim: Well, from this angle and because of the size of the picture it is really debatable what is happening but I find no cause to alter what I said before about the fingers of my hand being inserted in the top part of the pants.     Q: How about the little photograph 23-A, the next one in sequence. Explain to the jury what you were doing. Jim: Well, this is just one instant in time. I couldn't pretend to recall every movement I make during an hour of concentrated effort on the stage. It is like expecting a long distance runner to remember every ... (objection.)     Q: You say that your pants were of such a nature that you weren't able to open them at all in the front? Jim: Oh, no, you can open them.     Q: You can pull them down from the front? Jim: Well, after they are unfastened you can, yes.     Q: They stretch, don't they? Jim: Yes, but I had had these so long they had stretched all they were going to stretch.     Q: Where are those pants? Jim: Unfortunately, during the concert someone threw a bottle of red or orange paint and they were covered with paint so they were useless after that. I think I threw them away.     Q: Now, you heard catcalls from the audience is that what you said? Jim: That's right.     Q: You heard the audience, some people in the audience, call you fag, isn't that correct? Jim: I don't remember that specifically. After awhile, after as many concerts as I have done, there is always a few hecklers more or less, depending on the night or the place, so after awhile it all comes to blur in one general sound of jeering.     Q: That disturbed you, didn't it, that someone would call you a fag? Jim: Not particularly, no.     Q: Doesn't that insult your manhood? Jim: Well, I think any statement like that, any allegation like that generally says more about the person that calls the epithet rather than the victim.     Q: It wouldn't disturb you at all? Jim: Well, it would depend on the situation but in a concert situation, no.     Q: You made a statement to the audience, isn't it a fact, that there are no rules, no laws, do whatever you want to do. Did you make that statement, yes or no. Jim: I would like to answer yes but with an explanation, if I could. I did say that but it was in direct reference to that particular evening and any rules they may have thought existed about moving around the auditorium or approaching the stage. I was referring to that specifically.     Q: There are no rules, no laws. That was your statement, wasn't it? Jim: That was part of a long statement.     Q: Do you believe that you have a right to disobey a law that you think has no more use? (objection, sustained.)     Q: Do you think that you have the right to disobey the law, that there are no laws? (objection, sustained.)     Q: Do you remember pushing Ken Collier off the stage? Jim: I remember pushing someone off the stage. I didn't know anyone involved with the promotion or the running of that concert by name.     Q: Do you remember pushing, trying to push Larry Pizzi, the fellow that testified, off the stage? Jim: I'm not sure about that. I do remember pushing someone off the stage who was trying to grab the microphone and say something to the crowd, so I shoved him off.     Q: The time that you were on your knees in front of Mr. Krieger, is it your testimony that you were amazed at the intricate finger work and you had to study it? Jim: Well, I said a lot of other things besides that. Mainly it is this. When I am singing, the spotlight is on me. All the attention is focused on me. Well, it came time for a solo and often I will move near him in order to direct the spotlight and the attention to him.     Q: Did you or did you not say you were amazed at his intricate finger vork and got down on your knees and studied it? Jim: That was part of it, yes.     Q: That song was "Light My Fire"? Jim: Yes.     Q: How many times prior to March lst, 1969 had you and your group played "Light My Fire"? Jim: I can only approximate but it must be, it could be over a thousand times.     Q: This wasn't the first time you had seen the intricate finger work, is that a fact? Jim: The first time I have what?     Q: You have seen Robbie Krieger do that solo thousands of times, haven't you? Jim: Could be.     Q: But you got down on your knees to study the intricate finger work. Jim: Well, he gets better all the time.     Q: Let me ask you, you did deny certain things. Do you admit saying to the audience, "You are all a bunch of fucking idiots"? Jim: Well, I didn't remember saying it until I heard the tape but I am convinced the tape is a fairly accurate representation of that concert and I heard it on that.     Q: Do you admit you said, "Your faces are being pressed into the shit of the world"? Jim: Yes, I said that.     Q: You admit you said, "Take your fucking friend and love him"? Jim: Right.     Q: Do you admit you said, "Do you want to see my cock"? Jim: No.     Q: So that the witnesses were right about everything else but that? (objection, sustained.) REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. FINK     Q: The song "Light My Fire", you hear it in connection with the Buick commercials, advertising Buick automobiles? Jim: No, I don't know if they ever used that. I saw the phrase "Light My Fire" on a few billboards and advertisements in magazines but I don'.'t think I ever heard a commercial.     Q: For Buick? Jim: Yes.     Q: Did you license it to them? Jim: Yes. (objection, sustained.)     Q: You mentioned something about concentration. Would you describe to us in reference to the various movements that your hands make or your feet make when you are on stage during that hour that night, would you describe to us what you mean by that? Jim: Well, a rock concert is an hour or an hour and a half of ... (objection, sustained.)     Q: Let's go to this concert. How long was it? Jim: I'm not sure. It was over an hour.     Q: Will you describe in reference to that concert that night under the conditions that you observed there what you mean by the use of the term concentration? (objection, sustained.)     Q: By the way, you mentioned that you arrived a few minutes before you went on stage that night. How many hours were you travelling that day before you arrived at the Dinner Key Auditorium to go on stage? Jim: As I recall the plane from Los Angeles, the one I missed, was scheduled to leave at ten o'clock and so there was a hold-over in New Orleans of a few hours so I was travelling right up until the time I arrived at the concert.     Q: That would be starting at what time in Los Angeles? Jim: Well, they are three hours ahead of us so it would have been about ... I think that actually that flight was scheduled to leave earlier than 10:00. I forget.     Q: What time did you leave your home? (objection, overruled.)     Q: From the time you left your home to the time you went on stage that night, about how many hours elapsed? Jim: I awoke about dawn, about 6:30 and arrived there, I think we must have gone on around 11:30 or 12:00 o'clock, so it was ...     Q: That many hours ? Jim: Yes.     Q: You mentioned something about instant of time. Did you stand still and pose for any of these pictures that were taken of you? Jim: No, I am never aware of photographs. I am aware of them when flashbulbs go off or when I see a camera, but most of the time I am concentrating on the music and thinking about what I want to communicate to the audience, so I don't spend much time worrying about photographs.     Q: Can you at this date, a little over a year and a half following the date and time of this concert, tell us every step you made, every movement you made with your arms and body? Jim: No, I don't. We don't plan or I don't plan a routine. We know basically the songs we may perform but once we get on stage we just kind of feel our way and improvise according to the mood of the evening. So it becomes not exactly an unconscious performance but at least a kind of heightening of every day reality and a lot of actions and gestures, movements ... (objection, sustained.)     Q: By the way, did you sell a single ticket that night to the audience? Jim: No, sir.     Q: Did you have any control whatsoever on who came to the theater that night and who did not come? (objection, overruled.)     Q: Did you exercise any control as to who was permitted to come to that concert and who wasn't? Jim: No. The contract was made with one or two individuals, the promoters, and all of those decisions are in their hands.     Q: Did you have anything to do with how many people they admitted to be packed in there that night; did you control how many people were to be packed in there that night? Jim: Well, we had contracted to selling a particular amount of, number of tickets. I think it was between 9 and 10,000. Upon arriving I found out an additional two or three thousand tickets had been sold unbeknownst to us.     Q: Had you ever been at the Dinner Key Auditorium before? Jim: No, sir, I hadn't.     Q: Didn't you know what seating or facilities they had there? Jim: No.     Mr. Fink: I have no further questions.

© 1998 Rainer Moddemann, The Doors Quarterly Magazine. This article may not be distributed in any other context or media without the written permission of the copyright owner.

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page