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Musician Don Henley, left, arrives in court in New York on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. Three collectibles-world professionals were on trial in the criminal case involving roughly 100 legal pad sheets from the development of the Eagles’ 1976 “Hotel California” album. The charges against the men were dropped on Wednesday, March 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Charges were dismissed for three collectibles experts being tried for possessing stolen “Hotel California” lyrics after questions surfaced over whether they had truly been stolen and a judge criticized the Eagles rocker Don Henley and his manager for manipulating prosecutors.
Prosecutors dropped charges against rare books dealer Glenn Horowitz, former Rock & Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi, and rock memorabilia seller Edward Kosinski amid the trial in New York. They had been accused of possessing nearly 100 pages of handwritten notes and lyrics for one of the bestselling albums of all time — “Hotel California” by The Eagles.
The Associated Press reported that prosecutors agreed that defense lawyers had been blindsided within the last few days by 6,000 pages of communications involving Don Henley and his attorneys and associates.
“These delayed disclosures revealed relevant information that the defense should have had the opportunity to explore” when Henley and other prosecution witnesses testified late last month, Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Aaron Ginandes told the court, the AP reported.
The wire service reported the former defendants’ reactions. Inciardi said, “The next step is building back our reputations.” Kosinski said he felt “very good” about the case’s end. Horowitz declined to comment.
Henley’s attorney, Dan Petrocelli, called the outcome unjust and vowed to “pursue all his rights in the civil courts,” Billboard reported.
Justice Curtis Farber took Henley and his manager, Irving Azoff, to task.
“A review of these newly disclosed materials has demonstrated and highlighted Mr. Henley and Mr. Azoff’s use of the privilege to shield themselves from a thorough and complete cross-examination,” Justice Farber said at the hearing, according to Billboard. “It is now clear that both witnesses and their lawyers … used the privilege to obfuscate and hide information that they believed would be damaging to their position that the lyric sheets were stolen.”
The judge said prosecutors had been “manipulated” into bringing the charges but also commended them for dropping the case when new evidence surfaced, the magazine reported.
Law&Crime reported in 2022 about the indictment alleging the manuscripts were stolen in the late 1970s by someone hired to write a biography of the band. In 2005, the manuscripts were sold to Horowitz, a rare books dealer, who then sold them to Inciardi and Kosinski, prosecutors said.
When Henley learned that Inciardi and Kosinski were trying to sell portions of the manuscripts, prosecutors said, he filed police reports, told the three men that the materials were stolen, and demanded that they be returned to him.
The “Hotel California” album is certified 26 times platinum, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
Law&Crime’s Marisa Sarnoff contributed to this report.
