New York prosecutors reversed course and dropped charges Wednesday against three defendants accused of hiding manuscripts of the famous Eagles song “Hotel California,” an about-face that ended the trial.
• Also read: “Hotel California” manuscripts at the center of a trial in New York
At the opening of the hearing on Wednesday morning, one of the prosecutors, Aaron Ginandes, announced that the late filing of 6,000 pages of correspondence between certain protagonists cast doubt on the validity of the case.
Judge Curtis Farber, who confirmed the dismissal of the charges, also sharply criticized the attitude of Eagles founder, singer and drummer Don Henley, a key witness in the trial.
“A review of these documents demonstrates and underscores that Mr. Henley and Mr. (Irving) Azoff,” the Eagles' manager, “exercised their right (to professional secrecy) to protect themselves from thorough and complete cross-examination,” said the judge.
“It is now clear that the two witnesses and their lawyers … used this right to obscure and conceal information that they believed was prejudicial to their position that the manuscripts had been stolen,” he said also “Obviously manipulated”.
The three defendants, including a former curator of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, Craig Inciardi, a rare book dealer, Glenn Horowitz, and a third person, Edward Kosinski, were accused of acquiring something and then attempted to resell the manuscripts at auction despite knowledge of their dubious origin.
The case dates back to the late 1970s, when an author commissioned by the Californian rock group to write his biography was entrusted with the handwritten notes, approximately one hundred pages, used to write the album “Hotel California” and its companions Documents used were song of the same name. The author had not returned them, which constituted theft in the eyes of Don Henley, but not in the defense.
According to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, the indictment said the pages were then sold in 2005 to Glenn Horowitz, a rare book dealer, who then passed them on to Craig Inciardi and Edward Kosinski.