After a ridiculous defense, the actress is found guilty... $20 bucks says she does no time... I predict probation and a fine will b the punishment.

Read on...

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Ryder Found Guilty on 2 of 3 Counts
3 minutes ago
By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) - Actress Winona Ryder (news) was convicted Wednesday of stealing $5,500 worth of high-fashion merchandise from Saks Fifth Avenue last year.

The jury found the star of "Girl, Interrupted" guilty of felony grand theft and vandalism but cleared her of burglary. The panel reached the verdict after 5 1/2 hours of deliberations over two days.

The two-time Oscar nominee, who marked her 31st birthday in the defendant's chair, was arrested Dec. 12 as she left the Beverly Hills store, her arms laden with packages.

Ryder did not testify during the trial, which lasted two weeks.

The prosecution told the jury that Ryder came to Saks with larceny on her mind, bringing shopping bags, a garment bag and scissors to snip security tags off items.

"She came, she stole, she left. End of story," Deputy District Attorney Ann Rundle said in her closing argument. "Nowhere does it say people steal because they have to. People steal out of greed, envy, spite, because it's there or for the thrill."

Jurors were shown videotape of Ryder moving through the store laden with goods, and Saks security workers testified that after she was detained she apologetically told them a director had told her to shoplift to prepare for a movie role.

Her attorney denounced the security guards as liars even before the trial began.

At the start of her shopping trip, she paid more than $3,000 for a jacket and two blouses. The defense said Ryder believed the store would keep her account "open" while she shopped and would charge her later. But there was no evidence of an account.

In closing arguments Monday, defense attorney Mark Geragos suggested that the store, trying to avoid a lawsuit, conspired with employees to invent a story that would make Ryder appear to be a thief and vandal.

Geragos ridiculed the charge that Ryder vandalized merchandise by cutting holes in clothes when removing the security tags.

"This woman is known for her fashion sense," he said. "Was she going to start a new line of 'Winona wear' with holes in it?"

He carried a hair bow that she allegedly had stolen over to her, placed it on her head and said, "Can anyone see Ms. Ryder with this on top of her head? Does that make sense?"

Settlement talks between the defense and prosecution failed, but just before trial the district attorney's office agreed to dismiss a drug charge after a doctor said he had given her two pills found in her possession when she was arrested.

The 12-member jury included several people with Hollywood connections, including producer Peter Guber, head of Mandalay Entertainment and a former head of Sony Entertainment Pictures.

The town raised a collective eyebrow at the inclusion of Guber, who presided over Sony when three successful Ryder films were made there.

Ryder has made some two-dozen films since 1986, including "Beetlejuice," "Heathers," "Mermaids," "Little Women," "The Age of Innocence," "Edward Scissorhands," "Bram Stoker's Dracula," "Reality Bites" and "Mr. Deeds."

She received her Academy Award nominations for "Little Women" (best actress) and for "The Age of Innocence" (supporting actress).

Ryder was raised by parents who were part of the counterculture revolution in the 1960s. Her godfather was LSD guru Timothy Leary.

In 1993, Ryder posted a $200,000 reward in the kidnap-murder case of a 12-year-old girl, Polly Klaas, in Petaluma, Calif., where the actress grew up. When Ryder was charged with shoplifting, Polly's father, Mark, came to legal proceedings to support her.

In recent years, Ryder has been featured frequently in fashion magazines. Her delicate beauty and waiflike persona were on display at the trial along with a wardrobe of appropriate trial clothes — dark sweaters and skirts, soft dresses and, on the climactic day of closing arguments, a cream silk suit with a pleated skirt and short jacket.


(corrected name on title...and 2 add the latest shiznit!)
[This message was edited Sat Nov 9 7:12:13 PST 2002 by June7]

Unfortunately, I think you're right... she won't do any time at all.

Now if only Martha Stuart would be found guilty...

But neither of them will do time. Some how celebs have these godly rights...

Wynona is already theif she has stolen my heart

no i kid she is whore

Lami your profile pic just scared the shit out of me.

i am to fight for the hated of the org oh naysayers beware

Do the crime, do the time.

Although, I do have a soft spot for Wynona. This kinda sucks. I'm not a fan of her or anything, but I like some of her work, and she seemed like a nice, gentle, cute thief. lol

that bitch is fine, I would love to be stuck with her in a jail cell

jtgillia said:

Yeah, 2 b honest, I've "loved" her since "Heathers". She's so cute!

I'll take a felon like her any day!!!

wow wynona...only a matter of time before she starts hanging out with suge knight...

naw,
...wynona strikes me as the type who woulda been arrested for stealing a gallon of orange juice from target...or car fresheners from Kmart.

The saddest thing about this story: news organizations treated it as "breaking news"...

I'm glad. What a stupid ass defense!

C'mon over Wynona...you can steal my clothes anytime. My door is open for ya honey!

Come on, guys... get informed. When people who have plenty of money shoplift, it is most often related to a severe depression. Much like most suicide attempts are a cry for help, shoplifting by the well-heeled is generally a sbuconscious attempt to get help, generally due to feeling of emptiness brought on by untreated depression. Sending those people to jail is stupid. Plus you yanks send way too many people to prison already. You need to calm down.

.

If it was Kathy Bates or some other supposed non pretty face, yall would be screaming for the gas chamber...fuck Wynona..a thief is a thief. Even if she did work the white-girl in angst like nobodys business in Reality Bites.

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[This message was edited Thu Nov 7 11:45:17 PST 2002 by rdhull]

rdhull said:

My attitude toward her case has nothing to do with her angsty persona or her alleged beauty (she's not my gender, eh!). I just know two fairly famous cases here in Canada : the wife of Toronto's mayor (not pretty... and pushing 70) and a Quebec politician (gay, but pudgy). Both acted out of character in the middle of a huge personal crisis. I think the emphasis should be put on the risk of reoffending. Someone who steals for a living may deserve jail time, but a first offender who acted in a moment of temporary stupidity...? It's class warfare, I think. Sending her to jail would have nothing to do with rehabiliting the person and making sure she doesn't reoffend.

Aerogram said:

I dint mean you per se'...still...send her ass to county like everyone else..she'd look good in orange.

rdhull said:

I didn't feel targeted, don't ya worry. But you have a point. Orange is the new black after all. Plus maybe she'd become a better actress.

I think Wynona Ryder is Sick! What was she Doing? To me her movie GIRL INTERRUPTED had too Much Impact on her Life. She needs to Check Herself Into such a Facility.

Why are Celebrities Immune to Punishment? If that was a civilian she would be in jail.

She heard there was a sale at Saks. Most celebs to get free junk but you have to check first.The bigger star you are the more they give you without your having to ask. Maybe she thought she was there.

Oh boy... other stores? More footage? Yup, she's a kleptomaniac, but I still love her! Read on:

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Ryder Suspected at Other Stores
37 minutes ago
By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) - Newly released court transcripts in the shoplifting trial of Winona Ryder (news) revealed the actress was suspected of stealing from two other high-end department stores before her arrest at Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills.

Ryder was never charged in the alleged incidents at Barneys in New York and Neiman Marcus in Beverly Hills, according to the documents released Friday.


The Oscar-nominated actress was convicted Wednesday of felony grand theft and vandalism for shoplifting more than $5,500 worth of merchandise from Saks last December. The "Little Women" and "Girl, Interrupted" star was found innocent of a third charge of burglary. Her sentencing has been scheduled for Dec. 6.


The transcripts detail prosecution efforts during an Oct. 24 closed hearing to introduce evidence of Ryder's alleged "prior bad acts" into her shoplifting trial.


Ryder's attorney Mark Geragos declined comment late Friday, saying he had not been informed the documents were no longer under seal.


In the transcripts, Deputy District Attorney Ann Rundle argued jurors should hear about the three incidents before judging Ryder's behavior at the Beverly Hills Saks Fifth Avenue.


"We have videotapes of two prior instances wherein she is seen doing the identical conduct that they will see on the video in our case ... selecting items, concealing those items underneath heavy garment bags or underneath her own clothing, in and out of dressing rooms and ultimately walking out of the store without paying for the item," Rundle said.


Rundle told the judge that in one case, Ryder "was seen by security selecting a hat, wandering around the store with a hat and then walking out the door with the hat on her head without paying for it, which is an almost identical act to what she is being charged with in this case."


The instances occurred at Barneys on May 14, 2000, and Oct. 10, 2001, and Nov. 29, 2001, at the Neiman Marcus store in Beverly Hills, Rundle said. How those stores handled the incidents, including whether guards confronted Ryder or only observed and videotaped her, was not stated in the transcripts.


In defense arguments, Geragos said Ryder has "never been detained. She's never been arrested." He claimed the prosecution was just trying to "throw in more garbage" because it had a weak case.


Superior Court Judge Elden Fox ruled against letting jurors hear of the prior acts, saying the evidence "would impair the defendant's ability to have a fair trial."

The judge released the transcripts of the closed hearings in response to a state appeals court decision in a case brought by The Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Daily Journal.

In an unrelated matter, the Los Angeles County Probation Department confirmed Friday that a copy of Ryder's "pre-conviction report" was stolen from the department's Santa Monica office. Such a report normally contains information on a person's marital and financial status, medical history, criminal record if they have one, and the department's sentencing recommendation.

Backup copies of the copies exist, however, said Ken Hondo of the department.

Ryder faces a possible three-year prison term, though prosecutors have said they'll seek probation, community service and restitution.

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I was just about to post that about her being involved in other store thefts. Unfortunately the prosecution is always lenient on celebrities and she'll do no time.