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You know what, I really have no one to blame but myself for thinking a lawsuit related to the lyrics of “Hotel California” would follow any kind of logical outcome. Two weeks ago a trial began against three rare book and memorabilia dealers who were charged with conspiring to sell stolen property: hundreds of legal pad pages with “Hotel California” lyrics handwritten by Eagles band member Don Henley. The defendants obtained the pages from a writer who was legally contracted by the Eagles in 1979 to write a book on the band which was never published. Quite honestly, it seemed like a slam dunk case. Only now we’ve learned that Henley finally turned over 6,000 pages of documents — halfway through the trial — that completely back up the defendants, leading the judge to dismiss the case entirely. My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim…
Case dismissed: At a hearing Wednesday, a New York judge dismissed the charges after prosecutors alerted him that newly uncovered evidence cast doubt on whether Henley’s notes had been stolen in the first place — the core defense advanced by Glenn Horowitz, Craig Inciardi and Edward Kosinski. The disclosures came mid-way through a closely-watched criminal trial against the three men, in which Henley and longtime Eagles manager Irving Azoff had already testified.
Privilege, obfuscation, & manipulation: The sudden reversal was sparked by Henley producing new evidence that had been previously withheld under attorney-client privilege. The new materials touched on whether a journalist hired in the 1970s to write a book about the Eagles, Ed Sanders, had legitimately come into possession of Henley’s notes. At a hearing in open court on Wednesday, Justice Curtis Farber sharply criticized Henley and Azoff’s conduct: “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 he was also troubled that prosecutors had been “manipulated” into bringing the charges, and questioned why they had not more thoroughly vetted the accusations and the evidence. But he praised them for dropping the case once new evidence had come to light.
Eating humble pie: “Albeit late, I commend the prosecution for refusing to allow itself or the courts to be further manipulated for the benefit of anyone’s personal gain,” Farber said. “District Attorney Bragg and the prosecutorial team here, while eating a slice of humble pie, are displaying the highest level of integrity in moving to dismiss the charges. I am impressed.”
The opposite of humble pie: In a statement to Billboard following Wednesday’s hearing, Henley’s attorney Dan Petrocelli said: “The attorney-client privilege is a foundational guardrail in our justice system, and rarely, if ever, should you have to forsake it to prosecute or defend a case. 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.”
‘Jarringly late disclosures’: But at Wednesday’s hearing, Judge Farber said that Henley had recently handed over more than 6,000 new pages of emails and other disclosures that contained new information about how Sanders came to own the notes. Such “jarringly late disclosures” violated Horowitz, Inciardi and Kosinski’s constitutional rights, the judge said. “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.
I am not a practicing attorney. But I did attend the law school of My Cousin Vinny University, so even I know “it’s called disclosure, you d–khead!” It’s not the treachery that shocks me here. No, that I’d expect from a successful rockstar and his longtime manager. What I find stunning is the level of amateur hour going on, and from all sides! No one comes out of this looking good (except maybe the judge). The three defendants are on record as having changed their story about how they obtained the pages, and for asking Sotheby’s to conceal the pages’ contested ownership. Now Henley and Azoff (who really is a major player in the music industry) have been publicly outed for trying to weasel out of the basic trial procedure of disclosure. And I agree with the judge’s admonition of the Manhattan prosecutors, too. How did it get this far with so much missing material?!
I’ll say this, though: last week I made a plea for a swift resolution to this case, out of fear that the lyrics of “Hotel California” would check out but never leave my head. Victory for me! Until those voices call from far away, wake me up in the middle of the night— NO! Cease and desist you unfathomable song, you!
Photos credit: Getty, Ron Sachs/Aude Guerrucci/POOL/startraksphoto.com and Ron Sachs / Avalon, Aude Guerrucci/Mr Tickle/John Marshall/Avalon