Idaho man pleads not guilty to slapping toddler on Atlanta-bound plane

(CBS/AP) ATLANTA - An Idaho man accused of slapping a crying toddler and using a racial slur on an Atlanta-bound flight pleaded not guilty to assault in federal court on Wednesday.

Authorities said 60-year-old Joe Hundley used a racial slur when telling a fellow passenger to quiet her baby and then slapped the child. The incident unfolded on Feb. 8 aboard a Delta Air Lines flight from Minneapolis.

Marcia Shein, Hundley's attorney, said her client admitted to using the racial slur. She told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Hundley was traveling to Atlanta to take his son, an only child, off  life support after he overdosed on insulin. She said Hundley was distraught during the flight.

Hundley is scheduled to appear again in court on April 9.

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Feb. 18, 2013 - Joe Hundley, Idaho man, charged with assault for allegedly slapping a crying toddler on a plane