Don Henley questioned in court regarding his 1980 arrest
Don Henley, drummer and vocalist for the classic rock band the Eagles, has been questioned in a New York courtroom regarding his 1980 arrest.
Henley was testifying in an unrelated trial, surrounding the unauthorised sale of hand-written lyrics sheets from various Eagles hits from their iconic Hotel California album. However, the case for the prosecution questioned Henley about the events of November 1980, during which a naked 16-year-old was found suffering from a drug overdose at Henley’s home in Los Angeles.
The prosecution saw it fit to question Henley about the incident in order to get ahead of the defence lawyers, who were due to question the musicians’ memory and behaviour during his time with the Eagles.
On February 26th, Henley told the courtroom that the 16-year-old in question was a sex worker, who he had hired because he “wanted to escape the depression [he] was in” following the disbandment of the Eagles. The songwriter also claimed that he was unaware of the girl’s age at the time, and he never had sexual relations with her.
He testified, “I wanted to forget about everything that was happening with the band, and I made a poor decision which I regret to this day. I’ve had to live with it for 44 years. I’m still living with it today, in this courtroom.”
Henley also labelled it as a “poor decision”.
According to Henley, the pair simply talked about their respective lives, and took a significant amount of cocaine. The musician claims to have detailed the breakup of his band and the young girl detailing her estrangement from her family. “I don’t remember the anatomical details, but I know there was no sex”, he claimed.
At the time, Henley pleaded no contest to a misdemeanour charge of ‘contributing to the delinquency of a minor’. The songwriter was let off lightly, receiving probation and a $2,500 fine.
The criminal trial surrounding handwritten Eagles lyrics, which Henley claims were stolen from him, began on February 21st and is expected to last ten days. The defendants in the case are Glenn Horowitz, Craig Inciardi and Edward Kosinki.
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