An ongoing legal battle centered around handwritten notes and song lyrics for the Eagles hit song “Hotel California” has come to an end. Earlier this month, a New York State Supreme Court judge dismissed a wrongful prosecution lawsuit brought against singer Don Henley and manager Irving Azoff by rare books dealer Glenn Horowitz.
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🎤"Hotel California" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and charted in the top ten on several international charts. 💯 pic.twitter.com/W3f0FbdeaT
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Horowitz was one of three defendants charged in a criminal case involving more than 100 pages of allegedly stolen drafts of songs from the Eagles’ seminal 1977 masterpiece Hotel California. After New York prosecutors abruptly dropped the case mid-trial in March 2024, Don Henley made good on a promise to file his own lawsuit against the three men.
However, in an unexpected twist, Horowitz sued the “Take It Easy” crooner, 78, and his manager. Among other things, the New York book collector accused Henley and Azoff of malicious prosecution and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Now, Rolling Stone reports that Judge Kathleen Waterman-Marshall has granted a motion from Henley and Azoff to dismiss Horowitz’s lawsuit. In her ruling, Waterman-Marshall insisted that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office had “ample probable cause” to pursue criminal charges against Horowitz.
Don Henley Attorney Celebrates Legal Outcome
Eagles lawyer Dan Petrocelli told Rolling Stone in a statement, “The only malicious prosecution was Horowitz’s own lawsuit, which the Court promptly and rightly dismissed.”
Meanwhile, Horowitz’s lawyer, Caitlin Robin, said that her client plans to appeal the judge’s decision. She added that he is also still pursuing a malicious prosecution suit against the city of New York.
Why Did Prosecutors Throw Out the Criminal Case?
When Don Henley learned that some of the 100 pages of Hotel California drafts were up for auction in the 2010s, he claimed the pages had been stolen. In summer 2022, the Manhattan DA’s office indicted Horowitz and two other men on charges including conspiracy to criminally possess stolen property.
The criminal trial got underway in February 2024. Following two weeks of court proceedings—during which Henley took the stand—prosecutors abandoned the case. Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Aaron Ginandes cited 6,000 pages of communications involving Henley and his attorneys and associates as the reason for the decision.
Prosecutors and defense lawyers had only received the material days earlier after a last-minute decision by Henley and his legal representatives to waive their attorney-client privilege shielding legal discussions, according to the Associated Press.
Featured image by Adam Gray/Getty Images
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