A Texas
jury found Victoria Osteen, the wife of megachurch pastor Joel Osteen, not
guilty of assaulting a Continental Airlines flight attendant following an
argument.
The plaintiff, Sharon Brown, filed a lawsuit against
Victoria Osteen, 47, accusing the co-pastor of Houston’s
Lakewood Church of throwing her against a
bathroom door and elbowing her in the left breast after she failed to clean up
immediately a spill on Victoria Osteen’s first-class seat. Victoria Osteen
denied all accusations and was also backed by her husband and other first-class
passengers.
The jury came to an unanimous verdict after five days of
trial and less than three hours of deliberation.
Sharon Brown left the courtroom without giving any comment,
but her attorney Reginald McKamie said in a statement, “We gave the truth to
the jury. We are happy we had an opportunity to try our case,” as quoted by The
Associated Press.
The plaintiff had sought at least $405,000 for both physical
and mental damages as a consequence of the attack which supposedly occurred
before the takeoff of a December 2005 flight from Houston Intercontinental
Airport to Vail, Colorado.
“No matter what happened, I knew the truth was in me, and
that was the most important thing,” Victoria Osteen informed reporters after the
verdict was read, according to Reuters.
Victoria Osteen paid a $3,000 fine to the Federal Aviation
Administration, but they said they only did that to leave the unpleasant
incident behind.
Houston’s Lakewood Church
attracts more than 40,000 worshipers each week and its pastor, Joel Osteen,
holds televised lectures which are aired in almost 200 million U.S.
houses and in more than 100 countries.
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