One year and A year and a half after the arrest of three men who allegedly conspired to sell handwritten lyrics to Eagles songs without the band's consent, their trial finally began yesterday — and with its share of allegations, behind-the-scenes backstories and a cliffhanger worthy of a fictional televised trial.
On Wednesday, the three defendants — rare book collector Glenn Horowitz, memorabilia dealer Edward Kosinski and former Rock and Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi — faced a judge, but not a jury, in New York State Supreme Court. In the words of Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Nicholas Penfold, they collectively “possessed and repeatedly attempted to sell handwritten lyric manuscripts from songs on the album Hotel Californiamanuscripts written and stolen by Eagles founding member Don Henley.”
This property is approximately 100 pages of developmental lyrics from the making of this landmark classic rock album, given by the band to author, poet and musician Ed Sanders as research for an unpublished and authorized biography of the late seventies and early Eagles. Eighties. Horowitz bought five legal copies of the lyrics from Sanders in 2005 for $50,000. Inciardi and Kosinski, the latter of whom owns the Gotta Have Rock and Roll auction house, bought them from Horowitz for $65,000.
Henley and his camp maintain that the property belonged to the Eagles and that Henley only became aware of the situation when some of the lyrics began appearing at auction houses in 2012. Through their lawyers, Horowitz, Inciardi and Kosinski claim they were unaware of any contract between the Eagles and Sanders regarding the book's research material until they were arrested a year and a half ago and therefore did not consider the lyric sheets suspicious.
The three men, who pleaded not guilty, were charged with one count of fourth-degree conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison. Horowitz was charged with first-degree attempted criminal possession of stolen property and two counts of hindering prosecution. Inciardi and Kosinski were also charged with first-degree criminal possession charges.
In opening arguments, the People argued that “the defendants were not businessmen acting in good faith, but criminals who sought to profit from property they knew to be stolen. Criminals who deceived and manipulated to frustrate Henley's legitimate efforts to recover his stolen property and avoid legal liability.”
At the heart of the prosecution's case is the allegation that three defendants, who were indicted in July 2022, concocted different and ever-changing stories about how Sanders came into possession of the documents. Penfold claimed that Inciardi “made up a fiction for Sanders to puppet them”, that the lyrics were found in a backstage dressing room, and that Inciardi also “hid” information about the lyrics from auction house Christie's. Penfold also claimed that Sanders was trained to say that the lyrics may have been left out or given to him by the late Glenn Frey, who died in 2016.
When Saunders wrote to Horowitz that Henley “might probably be upset” about selling the lyrics, Penfold said, “It cast considerable doubt as to whether Saunders actually had Henley's verse notes or had the right to sell them. ». He also said Horowitz “ignored red flags” like Sanders'.
In their own opening statements, attorneys for the defendants expressed outrage that the case was even going to trial, especially since Sanders himself has not been charged with a crime. “These individuals had absolutely no idea, no understanding whatsoever, that there was a problem with these items,” argued Kosinski's attorney, Stacey Richman, adding, “I hope people will apologize at the end of this case.”
“This entire case rests on the concept of stolen property,” said Horowitz's attorney, Jonathan Bach. “The evidence will show that there is no theft.”
Regarding the alleged conflicting stories about the lyrics and Sanders, Bach said, “People are saying these emails are suspicious. They say, “There begins a conspiracy.” They are wrong. These emails show that Mr. Horwitz and Mr. Inciardi are looking for a simple statement from Ed Sanders to refute a
claim they know to be baseless'.
Pointing to the fact that Kosinski advertised on his Gotta Have Rock and Roll website, Matthew Laroche, one of his lawyers, argued that his client was “hiding nothing” and was “acting in good faith.” Highlighting the business backgrounds of all three men, he argued: “This was not a transaction with some shady guys in a back alley selling lyrics out of the trunk of their car.”
The first witness was an important one — longtime Eagles manager Irving Azoff. Wearing a dark suit with black sneakers, Azoff explained that Sanders was “hired” to write a book about the band and had access to materials to write an “authentic” biography. He said Sanders had ultimately received a total of $75,000 for the project, but that Henley and Frey were “very disappointed” with the end result. Azoff said he found the material in the book about breaking up the group “unacceptable.”
After the book was rejected by at least one publisher and looked to languish, Azoff said Sanders was given permission to shop it to other publishers, though the Eagles would still have control over its content and would need the OK to publish it. anywhere. Azoff argued that the band agreed to such a deal after a frustrated Sanders wrote, in 1982, “I could mount the manuscript myself. I think I behaved with great reserve. I could have gone Rolling rock the the New Yorker and I sold them the inside story of the Eagles breaking up as a magazine piece, but I didn't.” Azoff called the deal to let him revive the book “the lesser of two evils,” as the band didn't want the dirt on the 1890 breakup to go public.
Or, as Laroche put it, “The Eagles confided in Mr. Sanders all kinds of things about their lives, things that we're pretty sure they wish they didn't share at the time, and we're pretty sure they wish they didn't share sitting here today. And they want to get all that stuff back, and the evidence will show that the Henley team is using this prosecution to try to get back stuff that they gave Mr. Sanders 44 years ago.”
For anyone interested in Eagles history, some of Azoff's answers provided a small window into the inner creative workings of the band in the '70s. When Henley and Frey wrote songs together, Azoff said, Henley preferred yellow legal pads, Frey white. Frey and Jackson Browne co-wrote “Take It Easy,” but the band gave Browne 100 percent of the publishing revenue for it. Explaining Frey and Henley's methods when writing songs together for Hotel Californiasaid Azoff, “It was kind of like The odd couple. Don was the guy who ran and got Glenn's empty beer bottles and cigarette butts. It drove them crazy. It is better for them to have a neutral place to be wrecked than one of their own houses.'
In 2012, Henley purchased several pages of his own lyrics for $8,500. As for why Henley then decided to file a stolen property police report decades later and take legal action, Azoff said, “Don made the decision. [after other lyrics then appearing on the market]. He felt like he was being blackmailed and he didn't know to what extent what else was out there and it would open up a can of worms and he would have to keep writing more and more checks to get his lyrics back.” Azoff added that Henley considered his lyrics “very personal” and had stored them in a barn on his Malibu property.
According to a contract presented at trial, the “material” delivered to Sanders for the book was owned by the Eagles. But when asked if “anyone, Mr. Henley or his lawyers,” told Sanders he was violating his contract by selling the lyrics, Azoff admitted, “I don't know.”
The day had some rather light moments. Seeking to cement Azoff's reputation as a tough businessman, Edelman highlighted the Eagles' induction into the Rock and Hall of Fame. “They referred to you as Satan, right?” Kosinski attorney Scott Edelman said. “That's not accurate,” Azoff said. “Sir. Henley said, 'He may be Satan, but he's our Satan.' Have you heard of humor, sir?”
Azoff is expected to return to the witness stand tomorrow, when a newly discovered recording between him and Sanders is expected to be played. Henley is expected to take the stand next week, where he can be questioned about his past lifestyle. As Bach told the court, “His attitudes today, as a mature, successful, older businessman, toward the materials he helped compose and create nearly 50 years ago, are very different from the attitudes he held in his youth… way back when it was much more carefree.” The trial is expected to last two to three weeks.
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