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Flight attendant returns to the stand in Osteen trial
08:04 AM CDT on Wednesday, August 13, 2008
HOUSTON— The flight attendant suing Victoria Osteen for assault will be back on the stand Wednesday morning.
Sharon Brown, a Continental flight attendant, said she's in court because Osteen was never held accountable for allegedly assaulting her on a December flight from Houston to Vail, Colorado back in 2005.
Tuesday in court, Brown had the chance to tell her side of the story to the jury. She claimed Victoria Osteen became upset three years ago because there was a spill on the armrest of her first class seat. Brown claimed the situation escalated from there and that Osteen not only hit her, but elbowed her in her left breast.
Osteen argued that the whole thing was blown out of proportion and that she never assaulted Brown.
Brown disagreed, and said that Osteen was "putting on a show" and lying when she denied the claims. Brown also said Osteen offered her an insincere apology after the incident happened.
"I asked her [Victoria Osteen] to calm down. She was very upset. She was shaking her glasses in my face. I was asking her...What can I do to help you? What is going on? I could see that she was headstrong. I kept my voice low. I told her that she was waving her glasses on my face. She told me that her glasses were not in my face. So I just tried to defuse it," said Sharon Brown, while on the stand Tuesday morning.
Brown claimed the confrontation between her and Victoria hurt her faith toward what she called "prophet-like people", but Osteen's attorney, Rusty Hardin, tried to show that Brown copped an attitude.
"Ms. Brown, is this the way you talk to passengers?" said Hardin, while Brown was on the stand.
"I don't know," said Brown.
"Do you talk to passengers sometimes like they are idiots?" said Hardin.
Brown claimed the incident caused her mental anguish. She testified that revealing her medical history was embarrassing and that the whole matter could have been kept out of court if Osteen had just apologized.
Evidence showed the flight attendant visited a psychologist the same day as the incident and Hardin questioned her actions.
"Does this mean that your first reaction was to call a psychologist?" said Hardin.
Brown couldn't explain what the doctor visit was about.
Now, both women are facing each other in court, but it will be the jury who will have to listen to their explanations and decide who to believe.
Brown is suing the wife of Lakewood Church pastor Joel Osteen for 10 percent of her worth.
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