December 8, 1969 Jimi appeared in court at 10 a.m. in defense of a drug possession charge made against him in May 1969

Jimi appeared in court at 10 a.m. in defense of a drug possession charge made against him in May 1969. Under the jurisdiction of Judge Joseph Kelly, Hendrix stood beside Defense Attorney John O’Driscoll and before twelve jury members. The first witness for the Crown was Customs Officer Marvin Wilson. It had been Wilson who stopped Hendrix during a Customs check on May 3, 1969 as the guitarist tried to enter Canada to perform at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Wilson recounted his take of the situation, which was subsequently echoed his superior officer, a Customs Supervisor, as well as another Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer. Hendrix then took the stand next. The twenty-seven year old Seattle native proceeded to inform the court that he was entirely unaware of the drugs found in his travel bag. Hendrix made clear his own experimentation with a variety of drugs in the past, but that in this instance, he had no idea that someone had packed drugs in his travel bag. Hendrix claimed that the drugs were mistakenly packed in one of his travel bags along with a number of other gifts he had received from fans while attending a party in Hollywood.

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