Nesler May Not See Cash From TV Deal

Ellie Nesler, serving a 10-year sentence for gunning down her son’s accused molester, has sold her rights for a TV movie that will depict her life and sensational crime, but it is unclear if she will actually pocket any of the money.

A state prosecutor said Nesler’s $110,000 movie deal with two well-known Hollywood producers may violate a California law prohibiting convicted felons from profiting from their crimes. If the state proceeds with a claim against Nesler, part of the money may be taken to reimburse Medi-Cal for treating Nesler’s breast cancer while she is at the Central California Women’s Center at Chowchilla.

Part of the money could also go to the family of Daniel Driver, the 35-year-old convicted child molester accused of sodomizing Nesler’s son, then 6, at a church camp in 1988. Nesler was found guilty last summer of voluntary manslaughter in the death of Driver.

“We’re looking at bringing a case that will attach (Nesler’s) proceeds from any movie,” Jo Graves, a prosecutor with the state attorney general’s office, said Tuesday. “One problem may be the constitutionality of the statute. In New York, a similar statute was recently struck down.”

Nesler, 41, was sentenced last week to 10 years in prison for killing Driver at a preliminary hearing last April. The hearing was to determine if Driver would stand trial on charges that he molested Nesler’s son and three other boys.

Even if the state decides not to bring a claim on behalf of Medi-Cal or Driver’s family, Nesler is unlikely to profit from the movie deal. The $40,000 advance has already gone to pay for expert witnesses in Nesler’s trial, according to her sister. And the remaining $70,000 will be spent on attorney fees.

“Ellie won’t see a dime of it and neither will her two children,” Nesler’s sister, Marrietta Adams, said Tuesday.

Nesler agreed during her trial to the TV movie, which will be aired on the Fox network. The agreement was revealed in a probation report presented at her sentencing hearing. Adams said her sister had no real choice but to sign the movie deal with producers Howard Braunstein and David Steinberg.

“If Ellie didn’t sign the deal, she wouldn’t have been able to hire the expert witnesses at the trial,” Adams said.

Hollywood had initially shown great interest in Nesler’s story but cooled off when it was revealed that she was under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of the shooting.

“This is going to be an honest portrayal of what went down and what was going on in everyone’s head at the time,” producer Steinberg said. “We’re dealing with a person who grew up good and bad. We’re not interested in June Cleaver. This is a real person who had a real problem and dealt with it in her own way.”

Special correspondent Patty Fuller contributed from Sonora.