Bay Area Citizen - News
Still no decision in Nowak case
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| Lisa Nowak |
By MARY ALYS CHERRY
A Florida appellant court is still trying to decide if evidence found in former astronaut Lisa Nowak's car and statements she made to police when she was arrested last year in Orlando can be used at her trial.
Nowak was arrested after police said she attempted to abduct her romantic rival at the Orlando airport and charged with attempted kidnapping, burglary and assault and misdemeanor battery Feb. 5, 2007.
Some months back, a lower court ruled prosecutors could not use Nowak's comments made during a long interview with police after her arrest as she had just driven nearly a thousand miles and had not slept in more than 24 hours at the time of her interrogation.
The judge, who felt officers took advantage of Nowak, also said evidence police took from her car should not be used in the trial.
Prosecutors promptly appealed the lower court's verdict and the 5th District Court of Appeal, which heard arguments Oct. 21 in Daytona Beach, is expected to make a decision before the case comes to trial.
Nowak is free on bond after pleading not guilty. A Navy captain, she was released from the Astronaut Corps after her arrest and has since been stationed with the Navy at Corpus Christi.
The U.S. Naval Academy aerospace engineering graduate, 45, was arrested after she sprayed mace in the face of Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman, 30, at the airport and attempted to get into Shipman's car before Shipman hit the accelerator and drove away.
Nowak was wearing a black wig and trench coat at the time and carrying a pellet gun, a steel mallet, a four-inch folding knife, six black latex gloves, several plastic garbage bags, $600 in cash and four feet of plastic tubing, which police said might be used to tie up a person.
Diapers also were found in her car, leading to more headlines. But Nowak's attorney later said they were left over from a family vacation with her children.
Police said Nowak considered Shipman a rival for the attention of her love interest, space shuttle pilot Bill Oefelein, who also was discharged from NASA after the Orlando incident made headlines around the world.
Nowak contends she did not intend to hurt Shipman, only talk to her and gauge her interest in Oefelein.
When the case goes to trial, Nowak's attorney said last fall he plans to use an insanity defense.
Nowak was arrested after police said she attempted to abduct her romantic rival at the Orlando airport and charged with attempted kidnapping, burglary and assault and misdemeanor battery Feb. 5, 2007.
Some months back, a lower court ruled prosecutors could not use Nowak's comments made during a long interview with police after her arrest as she had just driven nearly a thousand miles and had not slept in more than 24 hours at the time of her interrogation.
The judge, who felt officers took advantage of Nowak, also said evidence police took from her car should not be used in the trial.
Prosecutors promptly appealed the lower court's verdict and the 5th District Court of Appeal, which heard arguments Oct. 21 in Daytona Beach, is expected to make a decision before the case comes to trial.
Nowak is free on bond after pleading not guilty. A Navy captain, she was released from the Astronaut Corps after her arrest and has since been stationed with the Navy at Corpus Christi.
The U.S. Naval Academy aerospace engineering graduate, 45, was arrested after she sprayed mace in the face of Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman, 30, at the airport and attempted to get into Shipman's car before Shipman hit the accelerator and drove away.
Nowak was wearing a black wig and trench coat at the time and carrying a pellet gun, a steel mallet, a four-inch folding knife, six black latex gloves, several plastic garbage bags, $600 in cash and four feet of plastic tubing, which police said might be used to tie up a person.
Diapers also were found in her car, leading to more headlines. But Nowak's attorney later said they were left over from a family vacation with her children.
Police said Nowak considered Shipman a rival for the attention of her love interest, space shuttle pilot Bill Oefelein, who also was discharged from NASA after the Orlando incident made headlines around the world.
Nowak contends she did not intend to hurt Shipman, only talk to her and gauge her interest in Oefelein.
When the case goes to trial, Nowak's attorney said last fall he plans to use an insanity defense.
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