Prosecutors abruptly drop charges in Eagles' hit 'Hotel California' stolen lyrics case
From the start, the case was highly unusual: a criminal prosecution centred on the disputed ownership of a cache of hand-drafted lyrics to ' Hotel California' and other Eagles hits.
Its end was even more unexpected.
In the middle of trial, New York prosecutors abruptly dropped their case against three collectibles experts who had been accused of scheming to hang onto and peddle the pages, which
Eagles co-founder Don Henley maintained were stolen.
The decision came on Wednesday 6 March 6 amid revelations of new evidence that raised doubts about the fairness of the trial.
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In explaining the stunning turnabout, prosecutors agreed that defense lawyers had essentially been blindsided by 6,000 pages of communications involving Henley and his attorneys and associates.
Prosecutors and the defense got the material only in the past few days, after Henley and his lawyers apparently made a latein-the-game decision to waive their attorney-client privilege shielding legal discussions.
“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 defendants were cleared of all charges, including conspiracy to possess stolen property.
Who were the defendants?
The defendants included rarebook dealer Glenn Horowitz, former Rock & Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi and memorabilia seller Edward Kosinski.
Horowitz has handled huge rare book and archive deals, and he's been entangled in some ownership disputes before. One involved papers linked to "Gone With the Wind" author Margaret Mitchell. It was settled.
Inciardi worked on notable exhibitions for the Cleveland-based Rock Hall of Fame. Kosinski has been a principal in Gotta Have It! Collectibles, known for auctioning celebrities' personal possessions - so personal that Madonna unsuccessfully sued to try to stop a sale that included her latex briefs.
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What were the charges?
The three men were not actually accused of stealing the Eagles’ documents themselves, but rather of trying to sell the documents despite knowing that Henley claimed they were stolen.
At issue were over 80 pages of draft lyrics from the blockbuster 1976 "Hotel California" album, including words to the chart-topping, Grammy-winning title track.
The pages also include lyrics from songs including ‘Life in the Fast Lane’ and ‘New Kid in Town.’ Eagles manager Irving Azoff has called the documents "irreplaceable pieces of musical history."
Case dismissed
Through their lawyers, the defendants contended they were rightful owners of pages that weren’t stolen by anyone.
“The next step is building back our reputations," Inciardi said in a written statement after the dismissal.
Kosinski, leaving court, said only that he felt “very good” about the case's end. Horowitz hugged tearful family members, then left court without commenting.
Henley lawyer Dan Petrocelli, meanwhile, said the musician plans to turn to civil courts.
“As the victim in this case, Mr. Henley has once again been victimised by this unjust outcome,” Petrocelli said in a statement.
One of Kosinski's lawyers, Scott Edelman, said they also were going to “evaluate next steps."
The communications that led to the case dismissal weren’t released publicly. But in court earlier this week, defense lawyers said the trove had identified additional potential witnesses and raised questions about some testimony from Henley and others.
As Edelman saw it, prosecutors "got blinded by the fame and fortune of a celebrity.”