Lisa Nowak doesn’t seem to get that she’s no longer an Astronaut Princess, and that the judge may not give a rodent’s rear end what the lovely Lisa likes or doesn’t like.
HT to Babs for the news that ex-naut Nowak – arrested in Florida after driving from Texas to stalk a romantic rival – wants her court-ordered electronic monitoring ankle bracelet removed. It’s a condition of her bail that she wear it and that she stay away from the woman she stalked.
Nowak whines that it causes abrasions and isn’t waterproof and the batteries run down. Holy cats. It’s an ankle bracelet. It’s not rocket science, honey. This woman was selected and trained by NASA to fly space missions – and she can’t handle changing the batteries on a small electronic device, putting on a bandage to cushion her ankle, and wrapping the thing in plastic when she showers?
Pleeze.
Full CNN story is below the fold, if the link’s expired.
Ex-astronaut Nowak wants ankle monitor removed
- NEW: Lisa Nowak asks judge to allow her to remove GPS ankle monitor
- Nowak is accused of attacking romantic rival Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman
- NEW: Shipman testifies she is afraid of Nowak and wants monitor in place
- NEW: Police officer testifies he read Nowak her rights
ORLANDO, Florida (CNN) — Former NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak, in a bid to take off her ankle-bracelet GPS monitor, testified in an Orlando, Florida, court Friday that the device is restrictive and hazardous when she drives.
Nowak, 44, is accused of assaulting her romantic rival, Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman, in a parking lot at Orlando International Airport on February 5.
The monitor, which Nowak said causes abrasions and is not waterproof, is intended to keep her from traveling to Brevard County, Florida, where Shipman lives.
Nowak’s lawyer, Don Lykkebak, is asking 9th Circuit Court Judge Marc L. Lubet to side with his client on three motions, including the request to remove the GPS monitor. Nowak was ordered to wear it on February 6 as part of her pretrial release.
Shipman also testified in court Friday and told Lubet that she was still afraid of Nowak and felt safe knowing the monitor was in place.
When Lubet asked her, “Do you want her taken off the ankle monitor?” Shipman answered, “Absolutely not.”
Nowak argued that the device is expensive and she has paid more than $3,000 for it since it was put on.. . .
Lykkebak also is asking the judge to throw out Nowak’s statements to police and suppress evidence collected from her car after the alleged incident.
The monitor, which Nowak said causes abrasions and is not waterproof, is intended to keep her from traveling to Brevard County, Florida, where Shipman lives.
Asked by her lawyer if she can assure the court she won’t go near Shipman, Nowak said, “I can absolutely say that I won’t go to Brevard County.
“I will abide by all the court orders … and any additional ones they wish to put on.”
Under cross-examination, Nowak admitted that she could take some form of exercise and bathe herself, and find other methods for getting around the drawbacks of the device.
Nowak said she has had to pull over twice on the highway because the battery was low. When that happens, there is a buzzing vibration, then a siren goes off, she said.
Orlando police officer William Becton testified Friday that he read former astronaut Lisa Nowak her rights.
Becton, who was with the airport’s investigative unit at the time of the alleged crime, said Nowak was asked before her police interview if she wanted an attorney, and she declined.
The officer said Nowak never told him she no longer wanted to talk.
NASA ended Nowak’s assignment as an astronaut in March after she allegedly assaulted Shipman, who was dating Nowak’s former boyfriend Navy Cmdr. Bill Oefelein.
Nowak, a captain in the U.S. Navy, allegedly drove nearly 900 miles from Houston, Texas, to Orlando — wearing toddler diapers to cut down on the number of stops she needed to make — in order to confront Shipman, according to an initial police report. Her lawyer has since denied that she was wearing any type of diaper.
She was arrested in the parking lot at Orlando International Airport after Shipman claimed Nowak attacked her. Airport surveillance tapes show Nowak donning a disguise while waiting for Shipman to arrive, then following her, police said.
Shipman told police that Nowak approached her car in the airport parking lot and asked her for help with a dead battery.
“I cracked my window open about two inches and told her I’d send someone to help her,” Shipman said. “She said, ‘Please help me,’ and then started spraying something from a skinny black can into my window.’”
Police said the can held pepper spray.
Nowak pleaded not guilty March 22 to charges of attempted kidnapping with intent to inflict bodily harm, battery and burglary of a vehicle using a weapon. The trial is to begin next month.
If convicted of the February 5 incidents, Nowak could face a sentence of up to life in prison.
Police contend Nowak gave them permission to search her car, which was parked away from the airport.
From it they seized weapons and photos inside a duffel bag, a steel mallet, a 4-inch buck knife and a loaded BB gun. They also found an alleged “plan,” which was written on paper and included flight information and directions.
Police said they also found a large plastic trash bag.
“Inside the bag I saw two used diapers. I asked Ms. Nowak if the diapers were used. She said that the diapers were used,” an officer said. “I then asked Mrs. Nowak why she had the baby diapers. Mrs. Nowak said that she did not want to stop and use the restroom, so, she used the diapers to collect her urine.”
According to the Orange County Attorney’s Office, Nowak — while in a jail cell — explained to authorities: “I just wanted to sit there and talk to her, and she said she wouldn’t talk to me and she walked away.”
Pending the resolution of the criminal charges against her, Nowak is assigned to the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station in Texas.
Oefelein, who left NASA in June, told investigators he and Nowak had been involved in a sexual relationship, but he ended it in January.
He said Nowak “appeared to take the news well.”
Find this article at: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/08/24/nowak.hearing
