DA moves to drop Eagles stolen lyrics case after admitting Don Henley produced 6,000 pages of evidence late

Manhattan prosecutors moved Wednesday to drop charges against three men accused of a scheme involving stolen handwritten lyrics to The Eagles’ hit “Hotel California” — after admitting the band’s frontman Don Henley turned over 6,000 pages of evidence late.

The stunning turn of events came midway through the trial after Henley and his lawyers tried to weaponize their attorney-client privilege to “to obfuscate and hide information that they believed would be damaging,” Justice Curtis Farber said at a hearing Wednesday morning.

Charges have now been dismissed against-books dealer Glenn Horowitz, ex-Rock & Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi and memorabilia seller Edward Kosinki.

Both Henley and Irving Azoff, the Eagles’ long-time manager, had repeatedly invoked — against the DA’s office “express and repeated requests” — their attorney-client privilege while taking the stand as witnesses at the trial, prosecutors said.

But the pair’s decision to invoke and later “waive” that privilege “resulted in the belated production of approximately 6,000 pages of material” that the defendant’s lawyers should have been given a chance to cross-examine them about, wrote Assistant District Attorney Aaron Ginandes in a letter to the court.

Judge Farber praised District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office for “eating a slice of humble pie” and moving to dismiss the charges.

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