A years-long criminal case involving the Eagles’ Don Henley, handwritten lyric sheets from Hotel California, and three defendants accused of conspiring to possess stolen property came to an abrupt end today in New York.
Videos by American Songwriter
It all started in 1979 when Don Henley sent author Ed Sanders research material for a biography of the Eagles that never saw the light of day. More than 100 pages of Hotel California song lyrics handwritten by Henley and Glenn Frey were among those materials, according to a Rolling Stone report.
[RELATED: The Eagles Don Henley Questioned in Court Over 1980 Arrest]
Decades later, Sanders sold the pages to Glenn Horowitz, a rare books dealer. Horowitz later sold the pages to former Rock & Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi and memorabilia dealer Edward Kosinski. They tried to sell them at auctions starting in 2012. A decade later, Henley claimed the lyric pages were stolen and took the case to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. The DA had Horowitz, Inciardi, and Kosinski arrested in the summer of 2022.
The Don Henley Goes to Trial Over Hotel California Lyric Sheets
The trial started late last month and included testimony from Henley, Eagles manager Irving Azoff, and an executive from Christie’s Auction House, among others. Last week, Henley and his legal team decided to waive their earlier choice to invoke attorney-client privilege. As a result, they entered upwards of 6,000 pages of documents including emails between Henley, Azoff, and their legal team. This angered the defendants’ attorneys as well as the judge.
Earlier today, Judge Curtis Faber said, “It is now clear that both witnesses and their lawyers, two of which shielded themselves from thorough and complete cross-examination by relying on Mr. Henley’s invocation, used the privilege to obfuscate and hide information that they believed would be damaging to their position that the lyric sheets were stolen. This is a basic confrontation violation.”
District Attorney Aaron Ginandes wrote a letter to the Judge asking him to dismiss the case today. “The People brought this matter forward because we believed the evidence, when fully presented, would prove defendants’ guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Nevertheless, the prosecution’s confidence in the merits of this case is not enough,” he wrote. “The People’s evidence must be fully presented and rigorously tested.” Judge Faber agreed and dismissed the case.
The Aftermath
Henley’s attorney, Daniel M. Petrocelli told Rolling Stone, As the victim in this case, Mr. Henley has once again been victimized by this unjust outcome. He will pursue these rights in the civil courts.”
Likewise, Horowitz, Inciardi, and Kosinski are weighing the possibility of taking Henley to civil court. Inciardi’s lawyer, Stacey Richman spoke about this possibility. “These are three factually innocent men. The question is now where do these men go to get their reputations back? We’ll be assessing our rights in the wake of the demonstration that these men are factually innocent.”
So, the criminal trial is over but it seems that the legal battle is just beginning.
Featured Image by Adam Gray/Getty Images
