Don Henley, co-founder of the legendary rock band the Eagles, was furious over his cocaine use in a Manhattan criminal trial, fuming over a handwritten lyric page he claimed was stolen from him and claiming he was a drug addict. He denied that he was “a bunch of zombies.”
Henry, 76, became frustrated as he resumed testifying in Manhattan Supreme Court. Defense attorney Scott Edelman asked if it was true that Henry used “a lot” of cocaine in the late 1970s.
“Is it important? It’s not — ‘Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n’ Roll” isn’t revelatory. We used cocaine off and on throughout his 70s,” Henry replied curtly, giving an unusually long answer.
“I’ve always been lucid when doing business. I’ve always performed in a state of lucidity,” he continued. “If I was like a drug-filled zombie, I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish everything that he accomplished before 1980 and he accomplished after 1980.”
Henry, one of the band’s drummers and lead singers, is facing an investigation into his 1980 arrest of a naked 16-year-old prostitute suffering from a drug overdose, and is seeking a lawyer for staging a “sideshow.” denounced. his Los Angeles home;
The case comes after Edelman, who represents Ed Kosinki, a rare memorabilia dealer indicted in an ongoing trial, repeatedly asked Henry whether he had tried to have “sex acts” with underage girls. It was about.
Henry denied attempting to have sex with the girl, repeating his testimony Monday and also saying in court that he did not know she was a minor until he was arrested.
“We fell asleep. I don’t remember the anatomical details, but I know there was no sex. There were no sexual charges against me,” Henry said at the time.
The rocker also testified that in addition to cocaine wraps, he was also charged with possession of quaaludes (which he said was “a drug at the time”) and marijuana.
He pleaded no contest in 1981 to a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, for which he received probation and a $2,500 fine.
Henry on Tuesday was also asked by Mr. Kosinki to look through some old notepads and identify which songs were on the yellowed pages. Some of the songs were written with Eagles co-founder Glenn Frey.
Henry accused author Ed Sanders, who was writing an unpublished biography of the band, of stealing lyric pads loaned to him for use in the book.
Sanders then allegedly sold Eagles lyrics, including the hit song “Hotel California,” to rare book dealer Glenn Horowitz.
Prosecutors say Horowitz, one of the defendants in the case, later turned them over to former Rock and Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi and Kosinki, and the lyrics pages were then put up for auction starting in May 2012. It is said that it is now being exhibited at.
The three men were charged in a non-jury trial with conspiracy to possess stolen property and various other crimes.
During Tuesday’s testimony, Henry was briefly reunited with the notepad he allegedly stole, which contained sketches of songs such as “The Long Run” and “The Sad Café.” The handwriting on the page was confirmed.
