LOS ANGELES — A day after Luke Walton’s accuser in a civil lawsuit spoke out, the former Lakers coach’s lawyer vowed to prove his innocence in the courtroom.
Mark Baute, an L.A.-based lawyer with a hard-nosed reputation, released a public statement on Wednesday that was harshly critical of Kelli Tennant’s press conference in which she said Walton assaulted her and held her down in a 2014 incident when he was an assistant for the Golden State Warriors. Baute called the claims “false” and indicated he won’t look to settle out of court.
“Yesterday’s press conference was a poorly staged attempt to portray the accuser as a viable spokesperson for an important movement,” he said in a statement provided to multiple media outlets.