Judge's daughter wants to serve on weekends

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A judge's daughter who killed her boyfriend in a drunk driving crash last year only wants to serve her prison time on the weekends. She wants to spend her weekdays at school. Prosecutors don't like the idea.

Right now, Elizabeth Shelton is supposed to report to jail on Thursday by 6pm. But it is not a date she wants to keep. She wants a more convenient sentence.

Even after being sentenced to four months in the county jail for killing her boyfriend while driving drunk, Shelton was allowed to go home with her mother. She was also allowed to remain free to finish out this semester at college. Now she wants one more thing.

"It's pretty obvious she got a sweetheart deal," said crime victims' advocate Andy Kahan. "She lucky she's not in prison right now."

On Monday, Shelton's attorney asked a judge if she could serve out her 120 day sentence only on holidays and weekends. The motion cites her scholarship to the University of St. Thomas as the reason. If she doesn't enroll in 14 hours of classes in the spring, the motion says she'll lose her scholarship.

The request comes just three days before the 20-year-old is supposed to report to jail.

Prosecutor Paul Doyle opposes it telling me, "She needs to just go in and do her time like everybody else."

Blood-alcohol tests showed Shelton was more than three times the legal limit in October of 2006 when she crashed her SUV on the Southwest Freeway, killing boyfriend Matthew McNiece. Shelton is state district Judge Pat Shelton's daughter and according to testimony, she made it known that night to a police officer saying, "My dad is a (expletive) judge."

Still, as a first time offender, a jury gave her probation. The judge gave her jail time and now she wants to stretch it out.

"It may be viewed as special treatment, but the reality if it's the same amount of time just spread out over a longer period because you want to go to school or work during the week," said KTRK legal analyst Joel Androphy.

If the judge grants the motion, it would take Shelton 60 weekends, more than a year, to complete her sentence.

Kahan says she was sentenced to four months straight. She should do it.

"If that's the least price she pays for taking another human being's life, she should look up to heaven and go, 'Thank you for giving me another chance'," he said.

The prosecutor says Shelton's scholarship should not be relevant to what she did and her sentence. There should be a ruling Tuesday morning. We'll let you know what happens. Shelton's attorney did not return our calls.

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