Colleen Shipman
Cmdr. Bill "Hound Dog" Oefelein
Posted on 08/24/2007 2:13:50 PM PDT by Palladin
Ex-astronaut Wants Ankle Bracelet Off
By TRAVIS REED, Associated Press Writer
ORLANDO, Fla. - Interviewing former astronaut Lisa Nowak was "like a chess game," a detective testified Friday as Nowak's attorney urged a judge to throw out evidence and a police interview in which she talked about the alleged attack on a romantic rival.
Nowak also took the stand and asked the court to let her remove her electronic monitoring bracelet, complaining that it cuts her ankle and gets in the way of her military boot lace.
As Nowak testified, the rival she was accused of pepper spraying in an airport parking lot sat a few rows away, frowning.
Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman told the judge she is still afraid of Nowak and feels better knowing she is monitored.
"When I'm home alone and there's nobody there with me, it is a comfort," Shipman testified. She also acknowledged that she had visited her boyfriend in Nowak's hometown of Houston several times since Nowak's arrest, though. She didn't say if that boyfriend was the same space shuttle pilot involved in the Nowak love triangle.
Nowak, a 44-year-old Navy pilot, has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted kidnapping, battery and burglary with assault involving the February confrontation with Shipman in an airport parking lot.
Authorities have said Nowak drove straight from Houston to Orlando _ using baby diapers to avoid having to stop for breaks _ then pepper sprayed Shipman and tried to force her way into Shipman's car in the parking lot. Police say Nowak also had a duffel bag with a steel mallet, 4-inch knife and a BB gun.
Nowak's attorney, Donald Lykkebak, asked Circuit Court Judge Marc L. Lubet on Friday to throw out the interview Nowak gave to police after her arrest that day and items found during a search of her car.
She had told the detectives that she and Shipman were vying for the affection of the same man and that she confronted Shipman in an Orlando International Airport parking lot because she wanted to know "where she stands."
Lykkebak said in court filings that Nowak 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. He contends police also searched Nowak's car without her permission or a warrant.
Orlando police Detective William Becton testified that he informed Nowak of her rights. He said she never asked for an attorney but did ask him four times if he thought she needed one.
The interview was like a "chess game," Becton said. He said Nowak bargained with information, like her car's whereabouts.
"I realized I was dealing with somebody who was more intelligent than I was, more educated," Becton said. "I was having a very difficult time gaining any information from her."
Nowak's main interest during the interview seemed to be how much Shipman knew, he said.
"There are chunks of the interview, if not large portions, where I'm actually the one being interviewed by her," Becton said. "She was very calculating and methodical in the manner in which she would answer my questions."
Becton also mentioned the diapers, which had made Nowak a joke on comedy shows and around the world.
He said Nowak told him she urinated in them on the 1,000-mile drive from Houston to Orlando to limit stops. Astronauts use diapers during space shuttle missions. Lykkebak said it wasn't true and that the baby diapers had been left in the car after a hurricane evacuation.
Nowak's attorney had said she would also make her first public statement since the arrest, but Nowak instead told reporters that she had "no plans to further discuss this unfortunate episode in a public forum." She instead thanked her supporters.
"It would have been very easy for me to permanently retreat into a world of personal sorrow, but my family and friends have given me a greater view about what is important in our lives," she said. "I look forward to resolution and closure for everyone."
During the hearing, Nowak said she wanted to get rid of the monitoring bracelet because it was bulky and painful and interfered with her ability to exercise _ a requirement for a Navy officer. She also said she had to change the batteries every 12-15 hours and that she has to pay for the bracelet, which costs $105 a week, about $3,000 so far.
Assistant state attorney Pamela Davis suggested Nowak could do other exercises, and she dismissed the cost as a real issue for Nowak.
"You're paying a media consultant _ fire the consultant," she told her.
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."
I think this gal has many rashes in places she can’t scratch in public. ;)
Must run off to dinner now.
Carry on, everyone.
Colleen Shipman
Cmdr. Bill "Hound Dog" Oefelein
Sissy..
sw
People in Hell want ice water.
I watched much of the hearing today. The cop has some real problems. An honest judge would order the evidence suppressed. Cop admitted there is nothing on the audio tape where she consented to a search. He even admitted that he could not identify any point in the trascript where even a inaudible response by her could have been consent.
I think she is still on active duty because it knows there are major problems with the case. On top of that, I bet she knows about lots of other astronauts fooling around that she will expose if adverse action is taken against her.
My prediction is that she will retire from the Navy in the near future, keep her pension, and save NASA the embarassment exposure of other sexual misdeeds by her fellow astronauts.
Ah, you've asked the question that's never been satisfactorily answered. Has anyone joined the 200 mile high club and if so who???
“Shoulda thought about that before putting on a diaper.....”
Police officer who testified today said that the diapers were toddler size. She was not wearing them, she was using them to urinate in so she wouldn’t have to stop. Still odd, but not quite as mind boggling as the adult diaper thing.
Many people have worn these. Too bad, lady!!
Yea they do. But usually not until *after* your trial. She hasn't been convicted, although she probably will be. The only legitimate reasons for the bracelet would be if they consider her a flight risk, or a threat to herself or others. Thus the testimony of her probable victim. Still taking the "fear" of her "alleged" victim sort of presupposes the outcome of the trial, doesn't it?
that silly cow thinking that she's Special is what got her into the bracelet in the first place... i see she's learned nothing.
I would maintain that she gave implicit consent to search the car when she voluntarily handed the keys over to the officer.
Her problem is she’s dangled her leg over too many darned things!
Unless she’s on “Weeds and Seeds” or scrubbing bathrooms she can wear her service uniform (blouse with slacks or skirt) with pumps. Otherwise her commander can grant a sneaker waiver so she can wear sneakers with her BDUs.
That’s what I thought. Aren’t her present duties concerned with training?
IIRC she’s writing tech manuals. Unfortunately all of her T.O.s include this step; “...before stalking your love rival ensure you have an adequate supply of diapers and garbage bags.”
Yup. I wonder why the Navy is treating her with kid gloves?
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