The unusual criminal case involving handwritten lyrics to songs from the Eagles’ 1976 multi-platinum-selling album “Hotel California,” took an unexpected turn on Wednesday, just weeks after the long-awaited trial kicked off on Feb. 21.
Prosecutors in New York dropped the case mid-trial, clearing the three defendants—rare-books dealer Glenn Horowitz, former Rock & Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi, and memorabilia seller Edward Kosinski—of all charges.
The defendants were previously accused of conspiracy to criminally possess roughly 100 pages of property, including draft lyrics to the Eagles’ hit song “Hotel California,” and other popular tracks from the classic rock band’s fifth studio album, such as “Life in the Fast Lane” and “New Kid in Town,” which the band’s co-founder Don Henley claimed were stolen.
Mr. Horowitz was also charged with hindering the prosecution. All three defendants pleaded “not guilty.”
After several weeks of testimony, Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Aaron Ginandes told Justice Curtis Farber—the judge presiding over the case—that the prosecution would no longer be moving forward with the case.
The decision was attributed to correspondence that emerged between Mr. Henley and his attorneys and associates. The emails were turned over to the defense halfway through the trial after Mr. Henley and his lawyers waived their attorney-client privilege after the band’s drummer and co-lead vocalist and other witnesses for the prosecution had already testified.
Prosecutors agreed with the defense that the disclosure raised questions about the trial’s fairness, as the evidence cast significant doubt as to whether or not the property had been stolen to begin with.
In announcing the case’s dismissal, Judge Farber said the witnesses and their lawyers purposefully used their attorney-client privilege “to obfuscate and hide information that they believed would be damaging.”
Mr. Ginandes told the court that the delayed disclosures “revealed relevant information that the defense should have had the opportunity to explore” earlier in the trial.
Case Dismissed
Despite being decades old, the popularity of “Hotel California” lingers to this day. Having sold 26 million copies, the Recording Industry Association of America listed the album as the “third best-selling album of all-time” in 2018.The lyrics in question during the case, which were drafted on legal pads, were written by Mr. Henley with input from Glenn Frey, another founding member and frontman of the band who passed away in January 2016.
The pages were reportedly first obtained by poet and writer Ed Sanders in the late 1970s. At the time, he had been working on a biography about the Eagles, which was ultimately never published. Mr. Sanders allegedly sold the pages to Mr. Horowitz in 2005, who reportedly went on to sell them to Mr. Inciardi and Mr. Kosinki.
Mr. Henley attempted to get the pages back in 2012, paying $8,500 for “original handwritten lyrics for the Eagles song ‘Hotel California’ written in Don Henley’s hand,” according to court documents.
During the trial, the prosecution alleged the three defendants were aware the draft lyrics were stolen and that they tried to sell them by lying to potential buyers about how they had come into their possession. Prosecutors also alleged that Mr. Horowitz had hampered the investigation by giving conflicting statements about how Mr. Sanders had obtained the papers in the first place.
“As the victim in this case, Mr. Henley has once again been victimized by this unjust outcome. He will pursue all his rights in the civil courts,” Mr. Petrocelli continued.
“We are glad the District Attorney’s office finally made the right decision and dropped this case,” Mr. Horowitz’s attorney, Jonathan Bach, told The Epoch Times via email. “It should never have been brought. Glenn Horowitz looks forward to continuing his important work.”
