Nude sunbather convicted

SANDPOINT - A Montana man who was found sunbathing in the nude on a front lawn this spring was convicted Wednesday of indecent exposure.

Gary Clifford Morley insisted he was not guilty of the misdemeanor offense, but a judge ruled otherwise following a bench trial in the magistrate division of 1st District Court.

Morley, 44, of Troy, was arrested by Sandpoint police after a passerby saw him sitting naked in a chair in the 1600 block of Main Street on March 6, according to the police report.

Morley told officers he had dozed off in the sunshine after fasting for 27 hours to fight off cold and flu symptoms he had been enduring for weeks, court documents indicate.

Morley, who acted as his own defense counsel during the court trial, contended that shrubbery and trees lining the front yard adequately obscured him from view. Officers countered that the bushes and trees lacked foliage, which made him clearly visible.

Sentencing in the case is set for June 1.