29-year-old Lindy Lou Layman, a freelance court reporter, is accused of damaging more than $300,000 worth of artwork in prominent Houston attorney Anthony Buzbee’s home.  She is facing felony charges after she allegedly “tore paintings off the wall with her hands, causing damage” and poured liquid onto them.  According to the complaint, she also threw his sculptures “across the room with her hands.”  Three original paintings and two sculptures were damaged at the attorney's home.Layman was arrested in late December.  She was charged with felony criminal mischief, booked into the Harris County jail and released shortly after posting a $30,000 bond.  The complaint says Layman “unlawfully, intentionally and knowingly” damaged and destroyed “three original paintings and two abstract sculptures owned by Anthony Buzbee” without his consent.  There are many valuables in the attorney's home, worth $14 million, which he purchased in 2013.

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Buzbee is a high-profile attorney who’s had his fair share of media headlines.  He has hosted President Donald Trump at his estate, as well as represented former Texas Governor Rick Perry in an abuse-of-power case.  Buzbee successfully brought the charges to be dismissed after Texas' highest criminal court ordered that the charges be dropped. The Court of Criminal Appeals also upheld a lower court's ruling dismissing a final charge against Perry.  The case against the Governor centered on a threat to veto $7.5 million in state funds for the public integrity unit of the Travis County district attorney's office, and questions about whether he abused his authority.  Buzbee has also represented respected horse trainer Bob Braffert, and recording artist and businessman Jimmy Buffet, as well as multiple governmental entities, including the State of Louisiana, and the Basque Government in the Kingdom of Spain.An article in Texas Super Lawyers Magazine describing Buzbee reads: “Competitive? Michael Jordan is competitive.  Tony Buzbee is a psycho.  He’s obsessed with winning.  And with his landmark victories including the $75 million he earned for offshore drilling workers in a wage fixing suit, Buzbee’s not only earned respect, but in his 14-year career, he’s pocketed as much money in the courtroom via jury awards as Jordan made on the court.”  The attorney is a private practice attorney and founder of the Buzbee Law Firm in Houston.Buzbee has drawn some controversial headlines, too.  He was allegedly pulled over for drunk driving, but completed a pretrial intervention and sought to the have the arrest removed from his record.  He maintains he wasn’t drunk behind the wheel.  At one point, he also bought a fully operational World War II tank for $600,000 and parked his outside of his home, stirring up gossip among his neighbors.  Of the decision, Buzbee was quoted in a television interview as saying, “Took a year to get here but now it’s on River Oaks Boulevard.  This particular tank landed at Normandy.  It liberated Paris and ultimately went all the way to Berlin.  There’s a lot of history here.”Why Layman was in the attorney's home the night of the incident remains unclear – seems she has a lot of explaining to do.

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