Judge dismisses 'Hotel California' trial over stolen Eagles lyrics

A New York City judge has dismissed the criminal case against three men accused of stealing the original handwritten lyrics for the smash hit "Hotel California" by the band The Eagles.

Prosecutors alleged that Glenn Horowitz, Craig Inciardi, and Edward Kosinski tried to sell materials worth over a million dollars by lying to auction houses, prospective buyers, and cops about how they obtained the handwritten lyrics.

Everything was not as it initially seemed, though, and the judge pretty quickly dismissed the criminal case against the three men.

Rock star Don Henley was chastised by the judge for "inherently misleading" witnesses.

The judge in the case said that "Mr. Henley and Mr. Azoff (Eagles manager Irving Azoff) used the privilege to shield themselves from a thorough, complete cross examination." He added:

It is now clear that both witnesses and their lawyers, two of which also shielded themselves from thorough cross examination, are relying on Mr. Henley's implication use of privilege to obfuscate and hide information that was believed to be damaging to their position that the lyric sheets were stolen. This is a basic confrontation violation.