Eagles: The strange criminal trial at the centre of 'Hotel California' unfolds

20 February 2024, 18:13

"Welcome to the Hotel California, such a lovely place."

Although, the Eagles' cryptic country rock classic was anything but. Instead, it described an inescapable place on a "dark desert highway", which Don Henley said was about the "dark underbelly of the American dream."

Nearly fifty years on from its original 1977 release, 'Hotel California' is still carrying that sentiment, with the lyrics being embroiled in a strange criminal trial which is set to start.

Former curator of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Craig Inciardi, rare book dealer Glenn Horowitz, and memorabilia seller Edward Kosinski have been charged with conspiring to own and sell manuscripts for 'Hotel California' and other Eagles hits.

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They've all pleaded not guilty, and their lawyers claim the three men committed no crime as they acquired the papers via a writer who worked alongside the band.

The Manhattan district attorney's office begs to differ, saying the defendants plotted to obscure the document's ownership, even though they knew that Henley said the pages were stolen.

Cases like this are unusual. Disputes over collectables like this are ten-a-penny, but criminal trials like the one about to unfold is rare as they're often resolved in private, or the items at the centre of the case are returned to the right owner, in this case the Eagles.

Travis McDade, a University of Illinois law professor studies disputes like these, and said: "If you can avoid a prosecution by handing over the thing, most people just hand it over."

This criminal trial will also be unique because the prosecutors' key witness will be Don Henley, who is expected to testify during the Eagles' current farewell tour.

The non-jury court trial could offer a rare insight into the inner workings of the band are their creative zenith, which will have fans of the band gripped.

The document contains over 80 pages of the Eagles' members Don Henley and Glenn Frey's lyrics, from the likes of 'Life in the Fast Lane' and 'New Kid in Town' too.

The band's manager Irving Azoff has called the documents "irreplaceable pieces of musical history", which is understandable given that 'Hotel California' is not only one of the most commercially successful singles of all time, but its true meaning is still being argued about to this day.

Horowitz, Inciardi and Kosinski are charged with conspiracy to possess stolen property, but not actually stealing the documents.

This is where writer Ed Sanders comes in. He worked on an authorised biography of the Eagles that was never published, and though he isn't being charged himself, he sold the pages to Horowitz, who then sold them to Inciardi and Kosinski.

Don Henley denies he knowingly handed the lyrics over to Sanders, but the defence lawyers aim to probe his memory during the trial.

"We believe that Mr. Henley voluntarily provided the lyrics to Mr. Sanders," attorney Scott Edelman said in court last week.

After the documents containing the lyrics later made their way to Kosinski, he assured Sotheby's auction house that Henley had "no claim" to the documents, yet asked to keep bidders in the dark in regards to his complaints.

Sotheby's briefly listed the 'Hotel California' song lyrics in a 2016 auction, but withdrew them after learning the ownership was in question. Sotheby's isn't charged in the case and declined to comment.

Prosecutors denied that their motivations were "a conspiracy theory rather than a legal defence", last year writing in court papers: "It is the defendants, not the prosecutors, who are on trial."