Diary of a Doors Drama
W E E K T W O
Monday, July 5, 2004 No court: Independence Day holiday
Tuesday, July 6, 2004 This morning's session began by finalizing jury selection. Four alternates were accepted and sworn in. The 12 jurors and 4 alternates break down like this: 6 men and 10 women. My estimation is that 5 are Caucasian, 5 are Hispanic, 4 are African-American, and 2 are Asian. I would guess that 3 of them are under the age of 35, and the rest of the jurors and alternates range from middle-aged to retired.
When the rest of the prospective jurors were thanked and excused, and instructed to return to the jury room, one excused male juror raised his hand and asked the court if they would mind if he asked John Densmore for an autograph. Judge Alarcon asked for a sidebar with the attorneys. He emerged from that and said that during the course of the trial, he would be issuing many admonitions to the jurors, but that those do not apply to excused jurors. However, he did ask that it be done outside of the courtroom. The excused jurors filed out into the hall, and John followed them out to fulfill the man's request.
Judge Alarcon spoke to the jury regarding general guidelines, such as not deliberating or discussing the case until its completion, and not doing any independent research. He said courtroom hours will usually be 9:30 to 12:00 noon, and then 1:30 to 4:00 or 4:30. He also said that by the end of this first week, he would have a better idea regarding the duration of this trial. Leslie Neale (John's wife) and his daughter Kelly arrived at 10:30 and joined John in his row.
At 10:50 after a brief break, Jerry Mandel, the attorney representing John and the Courson family, began his opening statement which lasted until 12:05.
The afternoon session began at 1:45 with Jeffrey Forer, the attorney representing the Morrison family, making his opening statement which lasted until 2:20. After a quick break, William Briggs, attorney for Ray, Robby and Ian, made his opening statement from 2:30 until 3:45.
Another quick break, and then Mr. Mandel called his client, John Densmore, as the first witness at 3:55. Today's court session ended at 4:25
Wednesday, July 7, 2004 Rear Admiral & Mrs. Morrison arrived for today's court session at 9:30, and sat at the end of my row. Mr. Morrison seems very spry for his 85 years, with pure white hair and only a slightly receding hairline. He looked pretty dapper in a checked sports coat. Mrs. Morrison was in a wheelchair and sat in the aisle next to her husband. Her pure white hair looked like it had some length, and was tied up in a bun on her head. John's wife and daughter, Leslie Neale and Kelly, were also in court with John.
When John started off late yesterday afternoon as the first witness, he was only in the chair for 30 minutes before court recessed for the day. The questioning centered mostly around personal background: his age, what he does now, his philanthropic philosophy, his pre-Doors jobs, and background on the early formative era of the band.
As John returned to the witness chair this morning, his attorney's questioning led him to discuss The Doors' philosophy regarding use of their music in major motion pictures or television, citing the well known examples of Apocalypse Now, the Oliver Stone movie about the band, Forrest Gump, and Monsters Inc. He explained the licensing of the music and merchandise. Mr. Mandel led him through questions that explained the business side of The Doors, that is, their business and personal managers, attorneys, etc. Numerous exhibits were entered into record showing the contracts and agreements made between the four band members.
Jim's sister Anne arrived just before the morning break, and sat with her parents. After the break, there were more exhibits of contracts and amendments, with testimony on the factors that led to each. There were exhibits and testimony regarding the Robby Krieger Band's tour of Europe with John as special guest, and then a subsequent RKB tour with Ray as guest.
Mr. and Mrs. Morrison did not return from the mid-afternoon break, possibly because it was unlikely that they would be called to testify during the remainder of this day. With John back in the witness box, the concept of the VH-1 Storytellers program was explained for the jury. The 2001 offer from Cadillac to use Break On Through was discussed, as well as other offers or opportunities to sell their music for commercial use.
Today's testimony concluded with John outlining the offer from Harley Davidson to headline a festival show celebrating their 100th anniversary. Court adjourned at 4:15.
Thursday, July 8, 2004 This morning's court session began at 10:00 with a "housekeeping" item regarding an exhibit which only took a few minutes, and then the jury was brought in. John was back in the witness box, where he had been when yesterday's court session ended. John's wife Leslie was in court, as were Rear Admiral & Mrs. Morrison. Mrs. Morrison was not in a wheelchair today, and walked in herself. Jim's sister Anne arrived later in the morning and joined them.
Direct examination by Mr. Jerry Mandel, representing both John and the Courson family, continued throughout the morning session. Topics covered included the successful history of the band; the offer from Harley Davidson to headline a show in 2002; the various partnership agreements and addendums through the years; use of the band's official logo; documents indicating the participation of Jim's estate (i.e., the Morrisons and Coursons) in decision making and approvals; use of the official website for promoting group and individual projects; and John's efforts to resolve the issues surrounding the depiction by the new band of The Doors' artwork and logo.
The Morrison family did not attend the afternoon session, which continued for another half hour with more direct examination by Mr. Mandel. At 2:00 Mr. Jeffrey Forer, representing the Morrisons, began his direct examination of John. This segment began with exhibits of some of the band's album covers, with John identifying the faces for the jury. There were more exhibits and testimony identifying the participants who signed contracts and agreements relating to new projects and licensing agreements.
Mr. Forer ended his examination at 3:20, and then Mr. William Briggs, representing Ray and Robby, et al, began his cross-examination of John. Mr. Briggs presented examples of use of The Doors official logo which had gone unchallenged. There was questioning about the fees and royalties paid to the band for use of their music in approved projects, such as Apocalypse Now, the Oliver Stone movie, Forrest Gump, and Monsters, Inc. After Mr. Briggs questioned John about the band's partnership agreement, today's session ended at 4:25.
Friday, July 9, 2004 Attorneys argued on several points regarding testimony to be allowed before the jurors were brought into the courtroom at 9:55. John resumed his place in the witness chair, with his wife Leslie in the front row. John lightened the mood with a "TGIF" declaration in response to defense attorney William Briggs' opening greeting before he resumed his cross-examination of John.
Mr. Briggs questioned John on numerous partnership agreements, including examples of official documents which did not contain signatures of all band members, or surviving band members and Jim's heirs. There was testimony about the few occurrences of the three surviving band members performing together after they stopped touring in 1973 as a threesome. Those performances were an unplanned show at a small club in Paris on Jim's 45th birthday on December 8, 1978 while on a press junket to promote An American Prayer; at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony on January 12, 1993; and then in September 2000 for VH-1 Storytellers.
Following the morning break, there was a brief segment of a videotaped deposition given by John which centered largely on a chance meeting with Pam in a Sausalito, California area restaurant when the band was up there to perform a concert. John recalled that Pam complimented them on how well they were doing. She was living in the San Francisco area then.
More cross-examination of John followed from Mr. Briggs, dealing with more documents and agreements which did not appear to require the signature of Jim's heirs.
There were several instances where excerpts from John's book, "Riders On The Storm," was introduced into evidence to challenge earlier testimony or opinions from John. John explained that the book was his truths.
Following the 90-minute lunch break, Mr. Briggs introduced more examples of documents that did not bear all signatures. A document was introduced from their business manager to their attorney which indicated that Jim had agreed - from Paris - to pursue negotiation with Elektra for an additional LP, in return for some additional royalty considerations.
Just before the afternoon break, Mr. Briggs asked whether sales of The Doors catalog have increased as a result of touring by The Doors of the 21st Century. When Mr. Briggs concluded his cross-examination, the jury was asked if they had any questions of John before he left the witness chair. There were, so the jurors were instructed to write them out and submit them to the court. The three questions were reviewed by the attorneys and Judge Alarcon, and John answered them upon returning from the afternoon break. Mr. Briggs followed up with additional examination based on one of those. When that line of questioning ended, John was finished testifying for now, and able to leave the witness chair.
At 3:30 the court saw approximately 45 to 50 minutes, or roughly half, of a videotaped deposition given by Ian Astbury in May 2004 to Mr. Mandel, the attorney representing John and the Courson family. The questioning led through Ian's background and then a history of the bands that he has been associated with. Upon questioning, Ian referred to modest fame and success that The Cult has achieved, and cited several awards that the band has received. He indicated that The Cult are on hiatus right now as they pursue their solo projects.
The deposition questions led Ian through a discussion on the structure of The Cult; how long he has known Stewart Copeland; and preparation and rehearsal for his appearance on VH-1 Storytellers. Ian was questioned about his participation in the Harley Davidson show at Fontana, California and the second Harley show in Toronto, Canada, as well as their appearances on late night TV shows.
Ian indicated numerous times that he had a lot of other band things going on around that same time, that The Cult had done some shows, and he was not necessarily clear on the dates of the Doors events he was being questioned on.
The Morrison family is expected to be back in court next week sometime. The jurors were excused at 4:20.
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WEEK ONE June 29 - July 2, 2004 - jury selection
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Related media stories:
July 3, 2004 -- Times UK by Nigel Williamson: "And The Brand Played On"
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