Lawyer: Ex-Astronaut Didn't Wear Diaper

by Mike Scheider, Associated Press

Date: 29 June 2007 Time: 01:57 PM ET

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Former astronaut Lisa Nowak didn't wear diapers during her 950-mile road trip to confront a romantic rival, her lawyer said Friday, disputing one of the more bizarre details to emerge from the NASA love triangle.

?The biggest lie in this preposterous tale that has been told is that my client drove from Houston, Texas, to Orlando, Florida, nonstop, wearing a diaper,'' Donald Lykkebak said after filing motions to suppress evidence in Nowak's criminal case. ?That is an absolute fabrication.''

The tidbit that Nowak wore diapers during her trip was written in the police report filed after Nowak's arrest in February.

?I then asked Mrs. Nowak why she had baby diapers,'' according to the charging affidavit written by Officer William ?Chris'' Becton. ?Mrs. Nowak said that she didn't want to stop and use the restroom, so she used the diapers to collect her urine.''

There were toddler-size diapers in her car when she was arrested, but they were several years old, Lykkebak said. Nowak and her family had used them when Houston was evacuated in 2005 during Hurricane Rita, he said.

The diaper detail became fodder for late-night TV comics and talk radio and even inspired an episode of the NBC show ?Law & Order.''

?It jeopardizes our ability to have a fair trial when the accused is the butt of jokes,'' Lykkebak said.

Lykkebak didn't say why he waited until now to dispute the police report.

An Orlando police spokeswoman, Sgt. Barb Jones, said she couldn't comment about the case specifically. She said a court would determine the accuracy of the facts.

Nowak, 44, was charged with attempted kidnapping, battery and burglary with assault in a confrontation at Orlando International Airport with Colleen Shipman, the girlfriend of former astronaut Bill Oefelein. Oefelein told detectives he had a two-year relationship with Nowak but ended it some time after he started a relationship with Shipman.

Nowak has pleaded not guilty and her trial is set for September. She was dismissed from the astronaut corps a month after her arrest.

Oefelein was dismissed from the corps at the beginning of June.

Lykkebak filed a motion asking a judge to prevent statements that Nowak made to police from being entered into evidence, claiming she had not been properly advised of her constitutional rights.

He also asked that evidence found in her car not be allowed to be introduced in court, saying it was seized without a search warrant. Police officers recovered maps to Shipman's home, large garbage bags, latex gloves and Shipman's flight information.