Is Lisa Nowak Insane?
Nowak's lawyer is considering insanity defense in attempted kidnapping case.
May 11,2007— -- Is Lisa Nowak insane?
Nowak's attorney, Donald Lykkebak, is considering a not guilty by reason of insanity defense for his client. He is waiting for videotapes of Nowak's interrogation by police before he makes a decision if he will use her mental state to explain her actions the night the former astronaut confronted her romantic rival.
Many friends and colleagues at NASA were baffled when the news broke on Feb.5: Nowak, an astronaut on the shuttle mission which flew last July, was in jail in Orlando; accused of attacking Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman, who was dating Bill Oefelein, the man Nowak had been having an affair with for years. How could a woman, who worked so hard to become an astronaut, who performed nearly flawlessly on her shuttle flight last summer, who was married, with three children and also a devout Catholic; end up as the punch line on late night TV?
The circumstances were bizarre enough to cause many to wonder if Nowak had simply snapped. She admitted to police she drove 977 miles from Houston to Orlando, wearing diapers so she wouldn't have to stop for many bathroom breaks, with the intention of confronting Shipman at the airport in Orlando, after Shipman flew home from a long weekend in Houston with Oefelein. Shipman told police Nowak had stalked her at the airport, then doused her with pepper spray as she tried to break into Shipman's car.
Nowak is accused of attempted kidnapping, and burglary with assault,which could mean a lengthy prison sentence if she is convicted when she goes on trial in September.
What are the chances of a successful insanity defense? Not good,according to former U.S. Attorney Kendall Coffee. "The fact that there is no prior diagnosis of mental illness cuts very heavily against a mental health defense".
Coffee says the planning that went into the attack is also a problem for the defense. "The length, and the detail of the planning certainly suggest that this was not some aberrational behavior. She had 977 miles to have second thoughts about what she was doing, and turn around, and she didn't do that".
Related Stories
ABC News Live