No insanity defense for ex-astronaut Nowak

ORLANDO, Fla., May 15 (UPI) -- A representative for former astronaut Lisa Nowak's attorney, Donald Lykkebak, says an insanity defense will not be used in Nowak's Florida criminal trial.

Lykkebak's representative, Marti MacKenzie, said the attorney withdrew a motion filed in 2007 that prepared the groundwork for a possible insanity defense in Nowak's trial on battery, attempted kidnapping and attempted burglary with assault charges, Florida Today said Friday.

"This was never a strategy the defense discussed," MacKenzie said. "You had to file a motion for that as an option by a certain time."

Nowak stands accused of attempting to kidnap U.S. Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman in 2007 as part of a jealousy-driven attempt to wreck Shipman's romantic relationship with William Oefelein, then a U.S. astronaut.

Investigators allege Nowak drove 1,000 miles to attempt the kidnapping on Feb. 5, 2007, and had been carrying garbage bags, latex gloves, a hunting knife and a rubber mallet in her car.

Florida Today said Lykkebak's filing Thursday withdrew a 2007 motion that alleged Nowak, during the 2007 incident, had been suffering from psychological issues such as major depressive disorder, Asperger's disorder and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.