[CR Note: Matt ran into Diane Fanning the other day—well, sort of. He was on the same radio program that the Edgar nominee Fanning had just finished doing. So he e-mailed her with a warm wish of good luck with her latest book, OUT THERE: The In-Depth Story of the Astronaut Love Triangle Case that Shocked America. Then, he asked if she’d dish for us on Crime Rant about that nutty astronaut, Lisa Nowak. Because, let’s face it, we can never have enough adult diaper stories in our lives. Diane’s opening sentence is a doozy. It kind of sums up what the true essence of this story amounts to after you strip away the incredibly bizarre aspects of it.]

Guest blog by Diane Fanning

The drive from Houston to Orlando transformed Astronaut Lisa Nowak from role model to punch line.  The world laughed over the diapers police alleged that she wore on that journey.  Then, they were shocked—and perhaps a bit disappointed—when it appeared as if Lisa’s attorney, Donald Lykkebak, denied that she wore them at all. 

He claimed it was a big media lie that Lisa “drove non-stop from Houston to Orlando wearing a diaper.”  The lawyer’s semantics game was a rousing success.  Based on what the attorney said, many immediately assumed that the diaper was a total fabrication.  That’s just what Lykkebak wanted everyone to think.

However, looking at the facts in the case, I discovered that “non-stop” was the only word in the sentence that made the statement false.  Lisa did not drive straight through to Orlando.  She stopped at a seedy motel in DeFuniak Springs in the Florida panhandle.  But Lisa, by her own admission to the police, wore diapers during her trip.

Lisa’s statement, however, may never be heard at trial.  On a defense motion, the judge suppressed her interview with the police as well as all the evidence found in her car.  He accepted the defense’s argument that Lisa had been coerced and not properly advised of her rights.  The prosecution appealed the judge’s decision that, in effect, stripped their case of a good part of its substance. While awaiting a decision, the prosecutors continue to insist that they are going to trial.

But if they lose that appeal, Colleen’s testimony and the canister in Lisa’s possession would prove assault by pepper spray.  They can use the disguise she wore and other items in the bag she carried to reinforce premeditation and her intent to deceive.  But without Lisa’s statement and the extensive planning evidence from her car, it will be difficult—if not impossible—to prove anything more than simple assault.  Under those circumstances, I doubt that the case will actually go to trial as scheduled in April 2008.  A plea bargain with a sweet deal for Lisa seems inevitable.

On the other hand, if the prosecution wins on appeal, they’d go into trial with more firepower—maybe enough to win.  But “maybe” might not be sufficient. I can’t help thinking that the state would rather settle the case instead.  Lykkebak has proven in hearings that he can slice and dice the state’s witnesses with ease and make law enforcement appear incompetent—or worse.  Combine that with Lisa’s previously unblemished record and stellar career, using mental health issues to generate sympathy from the jury should be child’s play for a seasoned defense attorney.

Lykkebak already succeeded in getting Lisa’s ankle monitor removed over the objections of the victim Colleen Shipman.  He was able to convince the trial judge to throw out more than half the state’s evidence.  Will he be able to get the ultimate victory of acquittal for Lisa Nowak? 

No matter the outcome in the courtroom, Colleen still carries the scars of that strange and scary night.  Her physical injury was fleeting but the emotional damage may be with her for a lifetime.  Who knows if she will ever feel safe again.

Astronaut Lisa Nowak scored a huge victory yesterday when the judge presiding over her case made a ruling that will change the course of the prosecution’s case against her–but not sink it entirely.
 
According to the AP:

ORLANDO, Fla. — A judge agreed Friday to toss much of the evidence against Lisa Nowak, a former astronaut accused of making a diaper-assisted, 1,000-mile drive to confront a woman vying for the affections of the same space shuttle pilot.

Investigators took advantage of 44-year-old Nowak, who had not slept for more than 24 hours, coercing her into giving information in a lengthy arrest interview, Orange County Circuit Judge Marc L. Lubet said.

Lubet granted a defense motion to throw out comments she made during the six-hour interview and items seized during a search of her BMW, including maps to alleged victim Colleen Shipman’s home, large garbage bags, latex gloves and some soiled toddler-sized diapers.

Nowak’s defense steadfastly denies she ever wore or soiled them to avoid stopping during her drive from Houston, but a detective said Nowak told him she had.

Nowak was arrested in February after allegedly confronting Shipman, the girlfriend of former space shuttle pilot Bill Oefelein. Authorities say Nowak stalked Shipman at the Orlando airport and tried to get into her car, then attacked her with pepper spray. Shipman was able to drive away.

The ruling was a big win for the defense. But evidence from a duffel bag Nowak was carrying — a steel mallet, buck knife, BB gun resembling a real 9mm handgun, gloves and six feet of rubber tubing — remains in the case.

Something tells us, however, Lisa will have a hard time explaining away the idea that she just happened to be driving around with a steel mallet, knife, gun and gloves. That tubing is still an anomaly: what in the heck was she going to do with that?

America’s favorite space cadet, former astronaut Lisa Nowak, is back in the news. You remember her as the diaper-wearing, mace-weilding woman caught in a love triangle with two other astro-nuts.

ABC News won a little battle this week and had the transcript of her interrogation unsealed.

According to reports, the 72-page document reveals that Nowak, who is accused of trying to kidnap a romantic rival earlier this year after a cross-country drive from Houston to Orlando, Fla., told Detective Chris Becton that she didn’t intend to kill Colleen Shipman and that she was willing to share her alleged love interest, astronaut Bill Oefelein.

Reminds us of the bible: Love is kind, patient, never jealous…

She also said her 19-year marriage had crash landed.

Nowak: My husband is the only person who broke my heart.

Becton: I’ll start with your husband. (Inaudible comment). Didn’t you say he broke your heart?

Nowak: Gradually.

Becton: (inaudible) Departure?

Nowak: Over the years I guess. It happened over time.

The transcripts of the interrogation reveal that Nowak did not go into much detail about her relationship with Oefelein and was vague about describing the relationship as sexual.

Becton: You did have sex with another man. Your husband was (Inaudible) am I correct? OK, maybe not.

Nowak: Well it’s not pertinent to what (interrupted).

He goes on with the line of questioning.

Becton: So did you cheat on your husband?

Nowak: On the context of?

Becton: Physically cheating?

Nowak: Right.

Nowak told Becton she never intended to hurt Shipman and that she simply wanted to talk.

Becton: You didn’t point the gun at her, but you did bring the gun with you and you were afraid she wasn’t gonna talk to you. So if she didn’t talk to you, were you gonna kill her?

Nowak: No. (The next line is redacted.) I just wanted her to talk to me.

Nowak repeatedly told Becton that she just wanted to understand Shipman’s relationship with Oefelein.

Nowak: I just wanted her to sit still, and of course you know at the point, you think logically about it, talk to me now. That was stupid. She was driving off anyway. Like this is my only chance, I’m never gonna see her again, I’m never gonna find her again.

Her goal in talking to Shipman was to see whether they could share their man.

Becton: How can you tell me that you would be OK with this guy being with both of you at the same time?

Nowak: Well, if that was the case and everybody was in a position to do that and OK with it.

Nowak and Oefelein have since been terminated as astronauts by NASA and are back on assignment with the Navy.

To the moon, baby.

America’s favorite space cadet has a book and TV movie in the works. She also might have a new career — at least according to one clever Photoshopper on the net. What do you think?