“Hotel California” lawsuit comes to abrupt end
A lawsuit over allegedly stolen Eagles lyrics was dropped because of newly available communications from Don Henley's lawyers
Aux News Hotel California
The case of the allegedly stolen lyrics to The Eagles’ “Hotel California,” which sparked when Don Henley discovered them up for auction in 2012, has come to an unceremonious end. According to CBS News, the case was dismissed on Wednesday after a cache of emails became available in the wake of Henley’s testimony. After taking the stand, Henley had waived attorney-client privilege, thereby releasing a trove of communications that the defense argued called the trial’s fairness into question.
The reportedly 6,000 pages of previously private communications between Henley and his lawyers have not been made public, but according to the Associated Press, the defense argued the emails “identified additional potential witnesses and raised questions about some testimony from Henley and others.” The prosecution ultimately agreed with the defense and declined to move forward with the case. “These delayed disclosures revealed relevant information that the defense should have had the opportunity to explore in cross-examination of the People’s witnesses,” Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Aaron Ginandes wrote (via NBC News). The case was then dismissed by Judge Curtis Farber, who said that “witnesses and their lawyers” used attorney-client privilege “to obfuscate and hide information that they believed would be damaging.”
Here’s how the whole thing went down: Henley only realized the “Hotel California” lyrics (among other Eagles-related documents) were missing when they went up for auction in 2012. He bought back some of the material himself, but also reported his property stolen. The new emails reportedly reveal that Henley’s lawyers initially wanted to categorize the situation a “burglary” to make their case stronger.
However, the chain of possession actually started with Ed Sanders, a writer contracted to pen an Eagles biography back in 1979. Henley testified that he gave Sanders access to the handwritten Eagles memorabilia, but he had “never gifted them or gave them to anybody to keep or sell.” Nevertheless, Sanders (who was never on trial) kept them and sold them to rare books dealer Glenn Horowitz, who then sold them to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi and rock memorabilia collector Edward Kosinski, who put the pages up for auction in 2012. Per the AP, prosecutors argued that this trio “knew the pages’ chain of possession was shaky but sought to keep and sell them anyway, contriving to fabricate a provenance that would pass muster with auction houses and stave off Henley’s demands for the return of the handwritten sheets.”
“We are glad the district attorney’s office finally made the right decision to drop this case. It should never have been brought,” Jonathan Bach, an attorney for Horowitz, said outside court (via CBS). One of Kosinski’s attorneys told press that they would consider their own potential action. Henley’s lawyer Dan Petrocelli, meanwhile, said in a statement, “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.”
16 Comments
Wow, Henley continues to be a gigantic sleazeball. Shocking, just shocking. This case should never have been brought as a criminal prosecution in the first place, but the prosecutors apparently succumbed to pressure by Henley and his lawyers. Glad they immediately ditched it when they found out they were snookered. Mojo Nixon recently communicated from beyond that he’s now perfectly fine with Henley getting back together with Glen Frey.
The Dude was on to something.
Let’s not forget Henley was convicted of endangering a minor in 1980.
He pled no contest.
“We are glad the district attorney’s office finally made the right
decision to drop this case. It should never have been brought,”
Yeah, I had a similar situation come up with a journal entry I wrote in 7th grade. God, that thing’s probably worth millions by now.
Apropos of nothing, Ed Sanders.
Slum Goddess from the Lower East Side!
I was going to say, Ed Sanders who wrote “The Family” or whatever about knowing the Manson family??
I thought “The Family” was pretty good in a 1971 kind of way.
I think this is the difference between “theft” and “conversion.”Theft is finding shattered car window glass in your now empty driveway.Conversion is when your sleazeball brother in law doesn’t return the car you lent him for the weekend. He didn’t steal it, you gave it to him, but he violated the conditions of that load to use it for himself. I am unsure if conversion is a criminal matter, or it remains a civil one due to the implied contract.This talk brought to you by my vast legal education from Steve Lehto’s YouTube videos and his previous contributions to Jalopnik.
Stealing the lyrics to a notorious hymn to Satan seems somehow appropriate, though.
Happy to read that the drama, over the song that made me swear off classic rock radio stations forever, is finely over.
Don Henley, always airing the dirty laundry.
I hate the fucking Eagles man.
Yeah, I’ve had a rough night.