In July, three men were criminally charged with possessing nearly 100 pages of Don Henley’s stolen handwritten notes, including lyrics for Eagles hits like “Hotel California” and “Life in the Fast Lane.”
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Rock and Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi, rare-books dealer Glenn Horowitz, and auction house owner Edward Kosinski were charged with attempting to sell the stolen materials. The value was estimated at more than $1 million.
They were each charged with one count of conspiracy in the fourth degree. While Inciardi and Kosinski were both charged with criminal possession of stolen property in the first degree, Horowitz was charged with attempted criminal possession of stolen property in the first degree along with two counts of hindering prosecution in the second degree. The three men pleaded not guilty to all.
This week, the saga of the stolen Eagles lyrics continues. In motions filed on Wednesday (Sept. 7), according to the Los Angeles Times, the men’s lawyers called for the case to be thrown out, citing reasons from statute-of-limitations to legal insufficiency and improper testimony, even blaming COVID-19-related suspensions. With Horowitz’s attorney stating in his motion that the People are “straining to make out a non-existent case,” the defense argued in a 49-page brief, breaking down the reason for dismissal.
The statute of limitations period having expired was one point. “Mr. Henley had three years in which to file an action to recover the property, but he failed to bring such a claim. Upon expiration of that three-year limitations period in April 2015, the Eagles’ rights to the lyrics were extinguished,” argued the defense.
With six years between the seizing of the documents and the charges being filed, the defense also cited “unreasonable delay in prosecuting the case.” “Legal insufficiency” was another as Kosinski claimed he was unaware that the lyrics were stolen. Regarding the value of the lyrics, the validity of expert testimony was in question, as well.
Another reason for dismissal goes back to the very beginning. This all started in the late 1970s. Author-musician Ed Sanders was hired to write an unreleased Eagles biography. In 2005, Sanders allegedly sold Henley’s handwritten lyric sheets to Horowitz for $50,000. Horowitz then sold the items to the other defendants, who attempted to sell them in various auctions. When Henley found out about the pending sales, he demanded the stolen material be returned to him.
Sanders, the origin of this case, is not being charged, and until recently, remained unnamed in the indictment, instead being referred to as “Individual 1.” “If the People’s view is that Mr. Sanders is not a thief,” writes Kosinski’s attorney, Antonia Apps, maintaining that if Sanders is not being charged then the papers were never stolen, “the Court should dismiss the Indictment in its entirety because the gravamen of the crime of criminal possession of stolen property is that the property being possessed was in fact stolen.”
(Photo Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns)
