TV Pastor’s Wife Charged With Assaulting Flight Attendant

HOUSTON – An attorney for the wife of TV pastor Joel Osteen says an exchange between the preacher’s wife and a flight attendant was a “minor incident.”

Victoria Osteen’s lawyer, Rusty Hardin, said before jury selection began today in Houston that the flight attendant’s assault claims are false.

Joel Osteen, of Houston’s popular Lakewood Church, was at his wife’s side in court.

A flight attendant alleges she was assaulted during an outburst by Victoria Osteen over a stain on her first-class seat before a 2005 flight to Vail.

Continental Airlines flight attendant Sharon Brown wants an apology and ten percent of the woman’s net worth in the civil lawsuit.

The Federal Aviation Administration fined Victoria Osteen $3,000 for interfering with a crew member.

Hardin today asked the judge to exclude the FAA report’s findings.

The judge didn’t immediately rule.