HOUSTON (AP) - She's the wife of a renowned pastor and one of the leaders of a Houston megachurch, but Victoria Osteen is being accused of behavior that wasn't very Christian.
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(Photo: AP Images / Pat Sullivan)Victoria and Joel Osteen exit a courtroom Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2008 in Houston. Victoria Osteen, co-pastor of Lakewood Church, is being sued by Continental Airlines flight attendant Sharon Brown, who says Osteen assaulted her on a plane.
Opening arguments were set for Thursday in a civil lawsuit that accuses Victoria Osteen of assaulting Continental Airlines flight attendant Sharon Brown before the start of a 2005 flight from Houston to Vail, Colo.
The lawyer for Victoria Osteen called the lawsuit silly and denied that her client assaulted Brown. Brown's attorney, Reginald McKamie, said he hopes the trial will show "that celebrity status doesn't take precedence."
Victoria Osteen is co-pastor at Lakewood Church, where her husband, Joel Osteen, preaches and where about 42,000 people flock each week. Joel Osteen's weekly television address is broadcast nationally and internationally.
Brown alleges Victoria Osteen threw her against a bathroom door and elbowed her in the left breast during an outburst over a stain on her first-class seat. The Federal Aviation Administration fined Victoria Osteen $3,000 for interfering with a crew member.
Victoria Osteen "clearly was angry on this flight," McKamie said.
Brown wants an apology and punitive damages amounting to 10 percent of Victoria Osteen's net worth as part of her suit.
A 12-person jury was seated Wednesday after lawyers spent several hours questioning a pool of 130 people. The questioning touched on religious beliefs, celebrity and the public's perception of preachers and televangelists.
Many of those in the jury pool said they had been to Lakewood Church and acknowledged holding the Osteens in high regard and being star-struck by them.
But other potential jurors said they didn't like preachers or televangelists and that ministers can lie.
Joel Osteen was at his wife's side Wednesday in court. McKamie said he expected to call the couple as witnesses.
According to an FAA report, Victoria Osteen pushed and elbowed Brown in an attempt to get to the plane's cockpit after two other attendants had not cleaned a liquid on her armrest.
Brown's suit claims the flight attendants asked to have Victoria Osteen removed from the plane. Victoria Osteen's lawyer, Rusty Hardin, says his client and her family left voluntarily. The incident delayed the flight about 2 1/2 hours.
Hardin asked that the FAA report's findings not be allowed in the trial, saying the agency's investigation was incomplete. State District Judge Patricia Hancock said she would make a decision later.
Brown had previously claimed she was attacked in another incident by an airport employee, according to a deposition she gave in the case.
According to court documents, Brown claims that she suffers from anxiety and hemorrhoids because of the incident involving Victoria Osteen and said her faith was affected. She is also suing Victoria Osteen for medical expenses for counseling.
Comments
tomorrowsong - "It is time for Joel Osteen to repent"
It is time for you to repent.
Joel Osteen does not preach the prosperity gospel. He encourages people on how to live out their Christianity.
Of course, his wife failed in doing so in this incident with the water stain.
The Osteens were not Christian in how they handled the water stain incident. However, Ms Brown is not right in how she is handling the minor altercation she had with Mrs Osteen. Jesus said that offenses would come in our life but we must forgive those who do us wrong. This is something Ms Brown refuses to do.
tomorrowsong - You need to be more concerned about what is going to happen to you on judgement day.
When a false teacher like Joel Osteen leads many astray, what would happen to them on the judgment day? I often wonder.
"Be careful, lest your sin find you out!!"
Joel would be held accountable to Jesus for the false gospel he has been preaching over the years. He has no discernment whatsoever, he even said on Larry King show that he believed those non-believer Indians also loved God, which god Joel was talking about? Indians have millions of gods.
It shouldn't be a surprising thing if Joel and his wife would go out of their way to blame the other woman. They will surely spend big money on their lawyers and do whatever they can to win this case for that their "status" in this world is more important than this poor flight attendant.
Shouldn't Joel and his wife have settled with this poor lady before this case was even filed with the court? Isn't Jesus' teaching for this kind of situation crystal clear?
Now they might lose 10% of their net worth. Anyways, May God's will in this case be done !!!
It is time for Joel Osteen to repent and turn from his false teaching of "prosperity gospel". Behind every prosperity-hungry false teacher (e.g. Benny Hinn, John Crouch, etc.), there is a greedy monster woman.
Please click here,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFcVLs__5hw,
and here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tMN37v3fTg&feature=related
you will know Joel Osteen is not a servant of God.
Can someone please tell me why Joel Osteen is called an "evangelical" pastor? Joel wouldn't know the Gospel if it were served up to him on a plate with watercress around it.
Can anyone tell me why this is coming up 3 tears later? Why did it take so long? Oh, that's right, forclosure set in. Gotta make your house payment somehow.
Joel's preaching gives me HEMORRHOIDS every time I hear him preach. Can I sue him?
for a sec, i thought she was holding a gun in the picture
"The Federal Aviation Administration fined Victoria Osteen $3,000 for interfering with a crew member." Not a CRIMINAL fine, but that's because she is rich and famous.
But I agree, this case is about money and should be thrown out of court. C'mon, HEMORRHOIDS?
The news last night stated that both sides said the suit is about MONEY. Ms. Brown is just trying to get rich off the backs of others. Give me a break. There weren't any criminal charges against Mrs. Osteen either.