Friday , March 29 2024

Winona Ryder Trial

Shoplifter interrupted?

    It is a “simple case of theft.” Or it is a “case about a woman who has been wronged and wronged terribly.”

    Thus began the shoplifting trial of the century, as opening arguments and prosecution witness testimony were heard in a Beverly Hills courtroom Monday in the case of the regular people versus two-time Oscar nominee Winona Ryder.

    Ryder is accused of trying to make off with more than $5,500 worth of designer doodads from the 90210 Saks Fifth Avenue last December 12. On Monday, she sat before a true, 12-person jury of her peers, including producer and former Sony honcho Peter Guber, a current Sony legal secretary and a TV development dude.

    The actress, who turns 31 on Tuesday, wore a demure black dress, and appeared “pale and serious” during the proceedings, according to Reuters, as opposed to all those times when the Gen X angst queen appears, you know, tanned and giddy.

    Certainly, Ryder had little opportunity to crack a smile during the prosecution’s opening remarks.

    Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Ann Rundle took Ryder to task for creating “her own two-for-one bonus program” during her ill-fated Saks outing.

    “For every item she purchased she would help herself to another,” Rundle told jurors.

    Per the prosecution, Ryder paid for four items, and helped herself to another 20 or so (which actually works out to a five-for-one bonus program, if you do the math).

    Rundle promised that store security video footage would be screened and scrutinized frame-by-frame for the court, and she said it would show the Mr. Deeds star doing bad deeds.

    Additionally, Rundle said Ryder walked into Saks armed with credit cards and dollar bills–and the intent to not use them to their fullest buying power.

    “All this case amounts to is a simple case of theft, nothing more, nothing less,” Rundle said.

    Ryder’s lead attorney begged to differ.

    “What was going on here was not really a bust or simple theft,” Mark Geragos said in his opening argument. “There were reasons they were doing this and focusing on Miss Ryder.”

    Previously, Geragos has charged that Saks employees nabbed Ryder in order to make a high-profile shoplifting bust for the Christmas shopping season.

    On Monday, Geragos didn’t speak to motive as much as he spoke of his client’s treatment at the hands–literally–of the Saks-ies.

    Upon detaining her, security guards threatened Ryder, and “did all kinds of things,” the defense attorney said, including lifting up the velour shirt she was wearing. The Age of Innocence actress responded to the search with a scream, on account of she was not wearing a bra, Geragos shared with the court.

    Whereas the prosecution argued Ryder’s unpaid purchases were the result of a premeditated shoplifting spree, Geragos said the actress had every intention of making good on her selections–eventually.

    Ryder has a credit card on file with Saks, Geragos said. And on the day of her arrest, he said, his client told a store clerk to keep her account open. (It is not an uncommon practice at stores that cater to the Hollywood elite for stars to be billed after, not before, they walk out the door.)

This last parenthetical statement would seem to supply Miss Horowitz (birth name) with her reasonable doubt, especially if Hollywood insider jury (“including producer and former Sony honcho Peter Guber, a current Sony legal secretary and a TV development dude”) feels favorably disposed toward her. She is still an absolute idiot for getting herself into this mess: if she intended to pay for the booty later, she should have made that clear to her salesperson.

UPDATE
Testimony: Winona says the devil, er, her director made her do it:

    The first witness in Winona Ryder (news)’s shoplifting trial testified the actress admitted trying to steal from a Saks Fifth Avenue store but insisted she was doing it to prepare for a movie role.

    Security official Ken Evans testified Monday that he first met Ryder after she had been detained and while Saks officials in California and New York were trying to decide whether to refer the case to police.

    “She was seated and she immediately stood up and took my hand,” said Evans, the asset protection manager at the Beverly Hills store. “She said, ‘I’m sorry for what I did. My director directed me to shoplift for a role which I was preparing.'”

About Eric Olsen

Career media professional and serial entrepreneur Eric Olsen flung himself into the paranormal world in 2012, creating the America's Most Haunted brand and co-authoring the award-winning America's Most Haunted book, published by Berkley/Penguin in Sept, 2014. Olsen is co-host of the nationally syndicated broadcast and Internet radio talk show After Hours AM; his entertaining and informative America's Most Haunted website and social media outlets are must-reads: Twitter@amhaunted, Facebook.com/amhaunted, Pinterest America's Most Haunted. Olsen is also guitarist/singer for popular and wildly eclectic Cleveland cover band The Props.

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