Space shuttle astronaut arrested at OIA on attempted kidnapping, battery charges

Orlando Sentinel ^ | February 5, 2007 | Henry Pierson Curtis

[burzum]

A NASA astronaut is charged with attacking her rival for another astronaut's attention early Monday at Orlando International Airport, the Orlando Sentinel has learned.

Lisa Marie Nowak drove from Texas to meet the 1 a.m. flight of a younger woman who had also been seeing the male astronaut Nowak pined for, according to Orlando police.

Nowak -- who was a mission specialist on a Discovery launch last summer -- was wearing a trench coat and wig and had a knife, BB pistol, rubber tubing and plastic bags, reports show. Once U.S. Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman arrived, Nowak followed her to the airport's Blue Lot for long-term parking, tried to get into Shipman's car and doused her with pepper spray, according to reports.

[jobnick]

I agree with you. The charges are not frivolous. However, I disagree that there is a "good" case for attempted kidnapping or attempted murder.

Kidnapping? Well, the fact that Nowak's car was not parked at the airport is potentially incriminating because it opens up the likelihood that she intended for Shipman to take Nowak back to her car. It's a little problematic to assume that such a ride would be under duress, and constitute kidnapping.

Remember, Nowak approached Shipman asking her to give her a lift. Who is to say that Shipman may not have acquiesed willingly? Then Nowak has a talk with her on the way, to the effect of "stay away from my boyfriend." If Shipman agrees to stop seeing Johnny Rockets, the kidnapping does not occur, the BB gun does not come out, the mallet does not come out, Nowak puts on a new set of diapers and drives back to Houston.

As it happens, Shipman did not go along, and in frustration, Nowak maces her. Why mace at this point, with the window open just a crack? It was the act of desperate frustration of someone who is mentally distressed and not the actions of a determined attacker. Remember that Shipman's car would have to go through a toll booth in the lot in order to leave. So breaking the window to gain entry to the car after the maceing would have risked damage that would have drawn the notice of the lot agent, not to mention made a terrific amount of noise. So I don't buy that was her plan.

Why is the argument I've posed any less plausable than the idea that she was truly determined to kidnap and murder? I'm saying that in order to convict on those charges, you would have to discount all other reasonable outcomes and ASSUME that every single item in Nowak's possession would have been used had the police not intervened.

And I think that is just not a likely outcome with competant representation offering other possibilities.

This crime, if there was going to be a crime, was stopped too early to convict on the charges presented.

The fact that she wore disguises and wore diapers says to me that she left open the possibility in her unstable mind, that she might commit a crime against Shipman if Shipman did not agree to Nowak's terms vis-a-vis the boyfriend. However, that is not a given.

In this country, you are innocent until proven guilty and there is simply not enough proof that she intended to kidnap or murder and not simply talk or scare as she contended was her intent.

[jobnick]

I agree with the assessment that Lisa Nowak did not get to the point in her encounter with Shipman to justify an attempted murder charge, or even an attempted kidnapping charge.

The circumstantial evidence is damning, but it is all SPECULATION and cannot, in my opinion, hold up in court.

The incident ended WAY too soon to establish, without a reasonable doubt, that Nowak intended to actually follow through and murder Shipman.

Yes, she had the weapons in her possession, yes she had made plans in advance, but whether she would have carried them out or just left it to her fantasy (beyond scaring Shipman, which Nowak says was her only intent) is conjecture and requires the jury to make presumptions that simply cannot be made without speculating several steps in advance, and that goes beyond the scope of what constitutes a "attempted kidnapping" and certainly "attempted murder."

She was obviously in a fragile mental state and needs treatment, but I cannot believe that these charges will stick.

Like Nowak's lawyer says, "you can speculate all day." He knows very well that speculation is the very essence of reasonable doubt.

I believe that Nowak is a very accomplished individual and deserves a chance to be treated and continue on with her life and even serve the space program in a reduced capacity.

We all deserve a second chance, and in this case, I think this incident was nipped early enough in the bud to justify it.

In my opinion, the only charge that sticks is "battery" for the use of mace.

I think that this police department is looking for a few minutes of fame and they're going to get it. But shame on them for moving forward with this prosecution with so much depending on speculation.

A first-year law student could win this case for Nowak.

[Fitzcarraldo]

A first-year law student could win this case for Nowak.

There is a military legal component here. That will be brought out.

[Fitzcarraldo]

Richard Nowak, Sandy Johnson, Keith Tran, Macresia Alibaruho

[Rte66]

Thanks for posting that. I was going to find those statements from Clark, because I heard him on TV this morning saying all that, about no psych evals other than when the astronauts are first in training.

Lots of people were gasping when he said it.

He also went into the "vacuum" that is created at the end of a mission, in the astronaut's life (such as his wife), when they have a real letdown and sometimes feel despondent or at loose ends.

That's exactly where Lisa was after the July mission she was on, and then possibly a prolonged or postponed "grieving" period until after her friend Oefelein's mission in December, as well as there being one in between.

Starting to look like a "perfect storm" of negative feelings and possible acting-out behavior for Lisa, when looked at from that perspective.

[jobnick]

There is a military legal component here. That will be brought out.

Point taken. The case is much stronger in a military court, which works quite differently than in other forums.

However, I personally fail to see the need for the military to sensationalize this more than the civilian courts already have.

I think the military has a stronger desire to downplay this, because really, what point does it serve?

[wideawake]

The fact that she wore disguises and wore diapers says to me that she left open the possibility in her unstable mind, that she might commit a crime against Shipman if Shipman did not agree to Nowak's terms vis-a-vis the boyfriend. However, that is not a given.

Again, if she wanted to talk to Shipman, she could have invited her out after work in Houston.

She could have accosted her at the airport gate when her flight arrived and spoken with her.

She could have accosted her at the baggage claim, where Nowak sat in silence observing Shipman for 2 hours.

She could have struck up a conversation with her on the shuttle bus.

But she waited until Shipman was isolated and alone and ran up to her to try and open her car door.

She didn't open her mouth to speak until she thought that Shipman would get away, and then when she did speak she pretended to be a stranger.

Every single thing she did from the time she downloaded directions to Shipman's home on January 23rd until she assaulted Shipman on February 5th indicates that she intended to murder Shipman.

Everything.

It's a little problematic to assume that such a ride would be under duress, and constitute kidnapping.

Kidnapping does not require duress. Enticing someone into a situation where you intend to hold them against their will is kidnapping.

Remember, Nowak approached Shipman asking her to give her a lift.

No, she did not. She ran up silently behind Shipman and tried to pry Shipman's car door open as Shipman was closing it. Only after that failed attempt to get the jump on Shipman did she begin the lying story about needing a ride.

[Fitzcarraldo]

I think the military has a stronger desire to downplay this, because really, what point does it serve?

To enforce discipline possibly.

[wideawake]

beyond scaring Shipman, which Nowak says was her only intent

Nowak did not say that. She said she only intended to talk to Shipman.

And yet she brought along an airgun, a can of pepperspray, a hunting knife, a steel mallet, rubber tubing, latex gloves and garbage bags - as conversation pieces to make sure the discussion was interesting?

Anyone who did not fall off the turnip truck yesterday has no doubt, reasonable or otherwise, that Nowak came to kill Shipman.

[Fitzcarraldo]

Nowak had her finger one millimeter above the abort switch at all times, and her crew escape procedure turned out to be less than effective.

[wideawake]

Nowak had her finger one millimeter above the abort switch at all times, and her crew escape procedure turned out to be less than effective.

But it was close.

Had she managed to get on the airport shuttle bus before the police were alerted to the assault on Shipman, she could have been in a cab wearing different clothes, with different hair and carrying no weapons on her way to the La Quinta, where she could have disposed of the evidence in her car and started making her way home.

Her crew escape procedure very nearly worked.

[KevinB]

Job,

You make good points and I'm sure that her defense counsel would make those or similar points. I'm not trying to predict what a jury would conclude once all the facts are in the open, but as a prosecutor I wouldn't be afraid to litigate those charges based on what we think we know now. Frankly, I think this will be pled out pretty quickly with Nowak agreeing to undergo psychological counseling and to stay away from the victim and Rocketman - unless, of course, the prosecutor is going to try to use this case to make a name for himself/herself a la Nifong.

[jackibutterfly]

"Bearing an electronic monitoring bracelet and a heavy cloak of shame, ..."

Thank God! There IS hope for us as a society. Shame is still alive. Can y'all believe it???

[mdmathis6]

They gave this lady a GPS bracelet and sent her back home on a plane. I hope she is being monitored closely; a person in these circumstances(crashing career, destroyed family, public ridicule) must be considered highly capable of suicide!

[KevinB]

Frankly, I think this will be pled out pretty quickly with Nowak agreeing to undergo psychological counseling and to stay away from the victim and Rocketman

Just to be clear, I'm not saying this is the result that should occur; it's just the result that I think will occur.

[jobnick]

Good points them all.

The counterpoint is that she did not try to talk to her at the earlier opportunities because she wanted to be pursuasive, by being in a position to menace Shipman, if necessary, and that could only have been achieved by obtaining a ride with her.

For the record, she did not try to pry open the door while it was being closed, she rapped on the window and tried to open the door after it was closed.

At this point, her plan - whatever the plan was - was coming apart. You say the plan was to kidnap and kill. She says the plan was to talk in a confined space, intimidate, and scare.

It's possible she had intended to ask her for the lift in the parking lot but was unable to before Shipman got to the car, then rapped on the glass and tried to open the door in frustration, THEN tried the story she initially intended to use to get the ride but at this point of course, Shipman was terrified.

You paint a great picture, but I still see reasonable doubt.

There are just too many alternative outcomes to pose to a jury. All you need is for one of them to be plausable and you cannot convict because that is our legal system.

Remember you need a UNANIMOUS decision by a jury. There is a lot of wiggle room for reasonable doubt.

Between you and me I do believe she wanted to kill her, but does this case meet the criteria for attempted murder? No, because it did not go far enough to eliminate reasonable doubt of other outcomes.

[jobnick]

From the Wiki:

In the criminal law, attempted murder is committed when the defendant does an act that is more than merely preparatory to the commission of the crime of murder and, at the time of these acts, the person has a specific intention to kill.
(italics added.)

Did Nowak prepare to kill Shipman? It seems very plausible.

Did she do more than prepare? She fired mace into the face of a woman in a vehicle with a closed door and a two inch crack. That is assault and battery. That is eons away from attempted murder. You would have to prove that her plan would have been executed had the police not intervened and that is just too much speculation.

She might have changed her mind once she was in the car for crissakes! Has that ever occurred to you?

Maybe Nowak and Shipman who had never fraternized before would have bonded in the car, hit it off as best buddies and gone out for lattes and laugh about their silly astronaut boyfriend.

How do you know? You don't, and for that reason, there is no attempted murder.

[Cecily]

"...beyond scaring Shipman, which Nowak says was her only intent."


That excuse didn't work for Betty Broderick, and I don't think it is going to work for Lisa Nowak. Colleen Shipman is very lucky, because I also believe Lisa intended to kill her dead.

[wideawake]

unless, of course, the prosecutor is going to try to use this case to make a name for himself/herself a la Nifong.

Or unless Nowak's attorneys - who are extremely chatty at this point - are too arrogant to accept a reasonable deal and force the prosecutor's hand.

[wideawake]

True, but in Broderick's case, she was able to actually murder her victims.

Her claim, if I remember correctly, is that she only intended to scare her victims and that she killed them in self-defense.