Don Henley Testifies in Strange Eagles’ “Hotel California” Court Case
Don Henley of the Eagles shared his side of the story with the court. He testified in a case where he alleged that three men stole pages of draft lyrics from the Hotel California album and tried to sell them in an auction. The men, Glenn Horowitz, Craig Inciardi, and Edward Kosinskiall, all memorabilia fanatics, claim that a man named Ed Sanders, gave it to them after he used the documents to write an unpublished book about the Eagles. During Henley’s testimony, he also opened up about his unrelated 1980 arrest.
Henley revealed that he saw the pages turn up at an auction in 2012 and was horrified that someone got their hands on these private documents. He explained, “It just wasn’t something that was for public viewing. It was our process. It was something very personal, very private. I still wouldn’t show that to anybody.” The defendants claim that they got the pages from Sanders and that Henley gave the pages to him. Henley admitted that he doesn’t recall if he gave him permission to take those documents.
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He added that while he gave Sanders access to many documents, he claims he did not say he could keep them. The defense brought up that Henley perhaps could not remember things clearly because it was during a time when he was arrested for drugs.
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In 1980, Henley was arrested and pleaded no contest in 1981 to “a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, after authorities found cocaine, quaaludes, marijuana and a naked 16-year-old girl suffering from an overdose at his Los Angeles home the prior November.” He paid a $2,500 fine, went under probation, and took a drug education program. During the testimony, Henley said that he was so depressed after the Eagles broke up in 1980 that he turned to drugs and called a sex worker that night.
Remind The case is still ongoing and we will update you on any new developments. Tell us, what do you think about the case and Henley’s testimony?
Oh What A Year: 1980
January 2020
Take a look back at our retrospect of the year 1980 where we celebrate the hottest in movies, music and TV.
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