Posted on 08/24/2007 7:23:21 AM PDT by SkyPilot
ORLANDO, Fla. - Former astronaut Lisa Nowak, accused of attacking a romantic rival, asked a judge Friday to let her remove her electronic monitoring ankle bracelet, saying that it cuts her ankle and gets in the way of her military boot laces.
Former astronaut Lisa Nowak enters the courtroom before a hearing at the Orange County courthouse in Orlando, Fla., Friday, Aug. 24, 2007. Nowak, accused of attacking a romantic rival, arrived in court Friday with a swarm of photographers snapping away as she was escorted to a private room to prepare. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Nowak promised to abide by all court orders if the GPS monitoring device is removed, including not having any contact with Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman, the woman she is accused of pepper spraying in an airport parking lot.
Shipman's attorney fought the request.
On the witness stand, Shipman told the judge she is still afraid of Nowak.
"When I'm home alone and there's nobody there with me, it is a comfort," she said of the Nowak's monitoring bracelet. She also acknowledged, however, that she had visited her boyfriend in Nowak's hometown of Houston several times since Nowak's arrest. She didn't say if that boyfriend was the same shuttle pilot.
Nowak, a 44-year-old Navy pilot, has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted kidnapping, battery and burglary with assault.
Her attorney, Donald Lykkebak, said he planned to ask Circuit Court Judge Marc L. Lubet at the hearing Friday to throw out evidence in the case, including an interview Nowak gave to police and items found during a search of her car.
Nowak had told the detectives that she and Shipman were vying for the affection of the same space shuttle pilot and that she confronted Shipman in an Orlando International Airport parking lot because she wanted to know "where she stands."
She is accused of attacking Shipman with pepper spray and trying to jump into her vehicle. Police say Nowak also had a duffel bag with a steel mallet, 4-inch knife and a BB gun.
Lykkebak contends police searched Nowak's car without her permission or a warrant. He said in additional court filings that she gave the interview under duress — after being held for three hours, deprived of sleep and a phone call and unadvised of her constitutional rights. The interview persisted, Lykkebak said, despite Nowak saying "Should I have a lawyer?" three times.
Nowak also planned to give her first public statement after the hearing, he said.
During questioning about the monitoring bracelet, Nowak said it was bulky and painful, and has kept her out of public places fearing its alarm. She said it also interferes with her ability to exercise — a requirement for a Navy officer, and inhibits her ability to drive.
"I can do weights. I don't have other suitable aerobic exercises," Nowak said. "There's no specific exercise required, but staying shape is a requirement of the military."
Nowak also said she has to change the batteries every 12-15 hours — at least twice a day. She pays for the bracelet, which costs $105 a week and about $3,000 so far.
Assistant state attorney Pamela Davis suggested Nowak could do other exercises, and has been able to bathe despite the inconvenience.
Kepler Funk, an attorney for Shipman, called the bracelet the most important condition of Nowak's freedom.
"She is scared of Ms. Nowak," Funk said of his client. "Right now there is probable cause to believe Ms. Nowak committed a crime against Ms. Shipman that's punishable by life in prison. ... The only comfort she's had for the past six months is knowing that someone has been monitoring Ms. Nowak's every move."
Let me guess, It was Bush’s fault!
No pole-dancing... ?
Is it just me, or has “tabloid” news taken over the airwaves? Yesterday was Lindsay Lohan, today Lisa the Astronaut.
She wouldn’t have to wear the bracelet in jail.
The fault lies in rubbing two sticks togeather, or rather two sexes. Those troglodites in the military who knew that putting men and women together sometimes leads to complications, may have been somewhat correct. Is their an absolute necessity of having woment in the astronaut training program, or Abu Ghrib for that matter, or is it to make someone feel good (read: liberal-think...using the term very loosely).
Serious tasks, if one can take defense of the nation as a serious task, should not be “complicated” to satisfy the needs of any any particular demographic group.
This Shipman is really overworking this issue — and so is the state of Florida for that matter.
For whatever reason they go orgasmic over taking down an astronaut.
Feel better now?
Excellent post!
This nut does not deserve to be a member of our great military!
I believe the judge should exceed sentencing guidelines and give here at least 84 minutes in jail - then expunge her record.
Welllll, if she’s uncomfortable, by all means, take the thing off.
Yes! There absolutely IS a reason to have women in the astronaut corps. For too long the astronaut corps has been dominated by military types and not enough civilians have been allowed to fly. (Note: NASA’s official policy is that civilians are not allowed on the shuttle, but what do you call teacher turned astronaut Barbara Morgan, or Canadian astronaut Dave Williams? Neither is in the military.) It is true that the requirements to fly the shuttle are mostly amassed by military pilots but there are many talented scientists from which to pull the mission specialists from.
If you read her bio, she is a Navy Pilot. That means that when she joined the corps, before Columbia, she was on track to be a shuttle pilot and then a commander. But she flew (like many other pilots before her) as a mission specialist in order to get her into space before Shuttle goes down for the count. NASA has too many pilots and not enough missions left for them to fly.
“Nowak, a 44-year-old Navy pilot”
She was a Naval Flight Officer (NFO) not a Pilot
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