Current:Home > InvestProsecutors drop charges midtrial against 3 accused of possessing stolen ‘Hotel California’ lyrics -Stellar Financial Insights
Prosecutors drop charges midtrial against 3 accused of possessing stolen ‘Hotel California’ lyrics
View
Date:2025-04-26 10:01:58
NEW YORK (AP) — New York prosecutors abruptly dropped their criminal case midtrial Wednesday against three men who had been accused of conspiring to possess a cache of hand-drafted lyrics to “Hotel California” and other Eagles hits.
Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Aaron Ginandes informed the judge at 10 a.m. that prosecutors would no longer proceed with the case, citing newly available emails that defense lawyers said raised questions about the trial’s fairness. The trial had been underway since late February.
“The people concede that dismissal is appropriate in this case,” Ginandes said.
The raft of communications emerged only when Eagles star Don Henley apparently decided last week to waive attorney-client privilege, after he and other prosecution witnesses had already testified. The defense argued that the new disclosures raised questions that it hadn’t been able to ask.
“Witnesses and their lawyers” used attorney-client privilege “to obfuscate and hide information that they believed would be damaging,” Judge Curtis Farber said in dismissing the case.
The case centered on roughly 100 pages of legal-pad pages from the creation of a classic rock colossus. The 1976 album “Hotel California” ranks as the third-biggest seller of all time in the U.S., in no small part on the strength of its evocative, smoothly unsettling title track about a place where “you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.”
The accused had been three well-established figures in the collectibles world: rare books dealer Glenn Horowitz, former Rock & Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi, and rock memorabilia seller Edward Kosinski.
Prosecutors had said the men knew the pages had a dubious chain of ownership but peddled them anyway, scheming to fabricate a provenance that would pass muster with auction houses and stave off demands to return the documents to Eagles co-founder Don Henley.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to charges including conspiracy to criminally possess stolen property. Through their lawyers, the men contended that they were rightful owners of pages that weren’t stolen by anyone.
“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.
The defense maintained that Henley gave the documents decades ago to a writer who worked on a never-published Eagles biography and later sold the handwritten sheets to Horowitz. He, in turn, sold them to Inciardi and Kosinski, who started putting some of the pages up for auction in 2012.
Henley, who realized they were missing only when they showed up for sale, reported them stolen. He testified that at the trial that he let the writer pore through the documents for research but “never gifted them or gave them to anybody to keep or sell.”
The writer wasn’t charged with any crime and hasn’t taken the stand. He hasn’t responded to messages about the trial.
In a letter to the court, Ginandes, the prosecutor, said the waiver of attorney-client privilege resulted in the belated production of about 6,000 pages of material.
“These delayed disclosures revealed relevant information that the defense should have had the opportunity to explore in cross-examination of the People’s witnesses,” Ginandes wrote.
veryGood! (78614)
Related
- Former Syrian official arrested in California who oversaw prison charged with torture
- Pope says he hopes to keep promise to visit native Argentina for first time since becoming pontiff
- 'The Honeymooners' actor Joyce Randolph dies at 99
- Bulls fans made a widow cry. It's a sad reminder of how cruel our society has become.
- The 401(k) millionaires club keeps growing. We'll tell you how to join.
- These 15 Products Will Help You Get the Best Sleep of Your Life
- Migrant deaths in Rio Grande intensify tensions between Texas, Biden administration over crossings
- Tropical Cyclone Belal hits the French island of Reunion. Nearby Mauritius is also on high alert
- What to know about Tuesday’s US House primaries to replace Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz
- 4 killed, 1 injured in hot air balloon crash south of Phoenix
Ranking
- Megan Fox's ex Brian Austin Green tells Machine Gun Kelly to 'grow up'
- North Korea says it tested solid-fuel missile tipped with hypersonic weapon
- Police are searching for a suspect who shot a man to death at a Starbucks in southwestern Japan
- What a new leader means for Taiwan and the world
- Average rate on 30
- Taylor Swift and Brittany Mahomes Are Twinning & Winning in New Photos From Kansas City Chiefs Game
- Monster Murders: Inside the Controversial Fascination With Jeffrey Dahmer
- Lions fans ready to erupt after decades of waiting for their playoff moment
Recommendation
Federal hiring is about to get the Trump treatment
Live updates | Gaza death toll tops 24,000 as Israel strikes targets in north and south
Coco Gauff criticizes USTA's 'Wild Thornberrys' post for making stars look 'hideous'
All My Children Star Alec Musser Dead at 50
Chuck Scarborough signs off: Hoda Kotb, Al Roker tribute legendary New York anchor
Patrick Mahomes' helmet shatters during frigid Chiefs-Dolphins playoff game
Fake 911 report of fire at the White House triggers emergency response while Biden is at Camp David
Ruling-party candidate Lai Ching-te wins Taiwan's presidential election