Ex-astronaut Lisa Nowak avoids jail, gets probation in love triangle case

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Ex-astronaut Lisa Nowak avoids jail, gets probation in love triangle
case
FLORIDA TODAY • November 10, 2009

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Buzz up!Twitter ORLANDO — Former astronaut Lisa Nowak avoided prison
time after pleading guilty today to two lesser charges: battery of a
conveyance and battery.





The Navy captain had been facing charges of attempted kidnapping,
battery and attempted burglary of a car with assault.


She was accused of confronting her romantic rival, Colleen Shipman, in
the parking lot of Orlando International Airport in February 2007
after driving from Houston. Shipman had begun dating Nowak’s love
interest, former space shuttle pilot Bill Oefelein.


"I am sincerely sorry for causing fear and misunderstanding and all
the intense public exposure that you have suffered," Nowak said in a
brief statement to Shipman in the courtroom, adding that she hoped
they could move forward with "privacy and peace."


Judge Marc Lubet sentenced Nowak to a year of supervised probation.


She was also sentenced to two days of jail, which she's already
served, community service and ordered to take an eight-hour anger
management class.


The judge said Nowak must have no contact with Shipman or Oefelein,
other than a letter of apology she was ordered to write to Shipman
within 10 days.


Before the sentencing, Shipman told the judge that the attack forever
changed her life.


Shipman said her life since the attack is "unrecognizable." She
suffers from anxiety and nightmares, and has purchased a shotgun, she
said.


"Nothing has worked," said Shipman.


Lubet warned Nowak that the judgment might affect her Navy career and
her retirement.


"But you brought this on yourself, and I don't have any sympathy for
you in that respect," he said.


He also emphasized that she was not being treated differently than any
other defendant facing the same charges to which she plead. And in
sentencing her, the judge said he took into account the fact that
Nowak had no prior criminal history and the steps she has made to
rehabilitate herself after her arrest, including undergoing
counseling.


Nowak flew as a mission specialist on Discovery in July 2006, a 13-day
Return to Flight mission that tested new safety procedures and
performed maintenance on the International Space Station.



Read more about this story in tomorrow’s FLORIDA TODAY.