It turns out that, in the case of the allegedly stolen handwritten lyrics to “Hotel California,” you actually can leave after you check out (anytime you like).
The criminal trial involving memorabilia associated with the Eagles' hit came to an abrupt halt Wednesday when prosecutors dropped the case.
Centered on three men who were charged with conspiring to possess manuscripts of "Hotel California" and other hit songs from the band, the trial had drawn interest in part because Don Henley, a founding member of the Eagles, testified on the stand.
The defendants — rare-book dealer Glenn Horowitz, former Rock & Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi and memorabilia seller Edward Kosinski — had pleaded not guilty.
The trial, which began in February, ended suddenly Wednesday after a mountain of emails between Henley and his attorneys were released last week — after he and other witnesses of the prosecution had testified — a move that caught both the prosecution and the defense off-guard.
As The Associated Press reported:
In explaining the stunning turnabout, prosecutors agreed that defense lawyers had essentially been blindsided in recent days by getting 6,000 pages of communications involving Henley and his attorneys and associates ... The communications that led to the case dismissal weren’t released publicly. But in court earlier this week, defense lawyers said the trove had identified additional potential witnesses and raised questions about some testimony from Henley and others.
At the heart of the dispute were about 100 pages of handwritten documents dating back to the band's work on their 1976 "Hotel California" record, which remains one of the best-selling albums of all time. The papers had been shared with Ed Sanders, a countercultural poet and singer from the '60s who had worked on an unpublished Eagles biography. Sanders sold them to Horowitz, who then sold them to Kosinski and Inciardi. The manuscripts were then sold at auctions. Per the original indictment, Sanders told Horowitz in a 2005 email that he’d been sent the documents by Henley’s assistant. Sanders subsequently offered other explanations but does not appear to have commented publicly on the trial.
Henley testified that he had shared the documents with Sanders for his book research but never "gave them to anybody to keep or sell." Sanders was not charged with any crime.
The 76-year-old musician appears intent on seeking justice. His attorney told NBC News that Henley "has once again been victimized by this unjust outcome" and will "pursue all his rights in the civil courts."