ORLANDO, FLA. — It had been almost seven months since Lisa Nowak and Colleen Shipman came face to face in a dark parking lot at Orlando International Airport.
Friday they met again, this time before a television audience that tuned in to watch the latest developments in their courtroom drama.
Amid a throng of national media, Nowak -- whose arrest ended her career as a NASA astronaut -- apologized to Shipman, her former romantic rival and the woman she is accused of terrorizing.
"The past six months have been very difficult for me, my family and others close to me," Nowak said after a five-hour hearing at the Orange County Courthouse. "I know that it must've also been very hard for Colleen Shipman, and I would like her to know how very sorry I am about having frightened her in any way and the subsequent public harassment that has besieged all of us."
Shipman -- who attended part of Friday's hearing and testified that she was still afraid of Nowak -- left hours before the apology.
But Kepler Funk, her attorney, was there for the news conference.
"Sounds like an admission of guilt to me," Funk said.
Nowak, 44, stood before the media and read her statement, the clicking cameras nearly drowning out her wavering voice. They were some of her first public comments since she became known as a criminal defendant rather than an astronaut.
The Navy captain, who was a mission specialist on shuttle Discovery's flight in July 2006, is charged with attempted kidnapping and burglary with assault, punishable by up to life in prison if convicted. She's also charged with misdemeanor battery. She has pleaded not guilty.
Friday's hearing -- aired live on Court TV -- ended with no resolution. Another hearing will be held.
But the key players in this public drama broke their silence under oath.
Nowak took the stand to explain the problems she has with wearing the court-ordered GPS monitoring device on her ankle, and told the court that a police officer never showed her a warrant to search her car.
"He asked me many times for consent and said he would get a search warrant," Nowak testified. "I thought he would search my car no matter what."
Shipman's attorney told the judge that Shipman hoped Nowak would have to continue wearing the monitoring device. Shipman, 30, lives in Brevard County, Fla., home of the space program.
