A Texan woman accused of damaging Warhol paintings on a first date gone wrong could face lifetime in prison if convicted.
Lindy Lou Layman was arrested on December 23rd after allegedly destroying artworks belonging to attorney Anthony Buzbee. Court documents say that she threw two sculptures “across the room” and threw “liquid” on three paintings before ripping them off the walls “with her hands, causing damage.”
The artworks allegedly damaged include two Warhol paintings, worth $500,000 each, and two $20,000 sculptures. According to the case against Layman, the artworks were damaged while she was intoxicated on a first date at his River Oaks mansion. Buzbee claims that she became intoxicated, refused to leave his house when he ordered her an Uber, and finally splashed wine on his paintings.
Layman is facing a criminal mischief charge, awarded when someone intentionally damages someone else’s property without any reasonable grounds to believe they have the right to do it. Criminal mischief is a graduated charge, with the severity of the penalty based on the value of the items destroyed. Because of the high cost of the items allegedly damaged, Layman is facing a first-degree felony, which could result in life in prison.
On January 9th, Buzbee appeared in court to plead “not guilty” to the mischief charge. During her brief appearance, attorney Justin Keiter said that Buzbee’s version of the events is untrue. “We certainly disagree with Mr. Buzbee’s rendition of the facts when he spoke to the media and we disagree with what was said in probable cause court,” he told The Chronicle. When reporters asked him what actually happened, Keiter said, “I’ll save that for the courtroom.”
This isn’t the first time Buzbee has made headlines in recent years. In 2016, the attorney successfully defended former Texas Governor Rick Perry against a charge of abuse of power after he vetoed state funding to a court. He also held a fundraiser for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and personally donated $250,000.
The same year, he hosted a fundraiser for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Although he said he was “completely done” with Trump after hearing his remarks about “grabbing women by the p*ssy,” he would later donate $500,000 to Trump’s inauguration committee.
After her hearing, Layman is out on a $30,000 bail, with the conditions that she avoids intoxicants and does not contact Buzbee. “We have no interest in having contact with Mr. Buzbee,” her attorney told reporters. “That’s fine with us.” According to Keiter, Layman has been “weathering the storm of the intense media scrutiny that she has endured,” and is only interested in proving her innocence.
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