Posted on 12/06/2002 9:31:55 AM PST by NormsRevenge
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) - Actress Winona Ryder was sentenced today to probation, drug counseling and restitution for stealing more than $5,500 worth of merchandise from a Saks Fifth Avenue store.
Ryder, 31, made no statement to the court other than to acknowledge that she faced prison if she steals again.
Suprior Court Judge Elden Fox imposed a fine of $2,700, a restitution fine of $1,000 to the court, restitution of $6,355 to Saks, 480 hours of community service -- 240 hours at City of Hope, 120 hours at the Foundation for the Junior Blind, 120 hours at the Caring for Babies With Aids foundation -- before April 7, 2003.
Ryder was also ordered to participate in a court-approved drug and psychological counseling program.
She received a technical term of one day in jail but was given credit for the day she was booked.
``It is not my intention to make an example of you,'' Fox told Ryder, but he said he was holding her accountable.
The judge also said she had ``disappointed'' many people and she would have to ``confront certain issues'' that led to her behavior.
``You have refused to accept personal responsibility,'' he told the actress.
The two-time Academy Award nominee was convicted last month of felony grand theft and vandalism for taking more than $5,500 worth of merchandise at the Beverly Hills store last year.
Ryder faced up to three years in prison, but prosecutors did not recommend any time behind bars because she had no prior convictions.
Ryder was sentenced after defense attorney Mark Geragos charged that prosecutors did not treat her like any other defendant, and got a felony conviction ``after they have done everything possible to try to destroy this woman.'' He said he made great efforts to settle the case but officials wanted ``a dog-and-pony show.''
``It's clear to me at least in 20 years of practice that this case has been handled unlike any that I have ever seen,'' Geragos said.
He reminded the court that Ryder had, among other good deeds, posted a reward to find the murderer of 12-year-old Polly Klaas, who was kidnapped from her Petaluma, Calif., home in 1993.
Geragos acknowledged some ``aberrant behavior'' by Ryder but called her classy.
In a victim's statement, Saks Fifth Avenue general counsel Kenneth Metzner told the court that Ryder made TV appearances after her arrest that made light of the crime.
He said shoplifting is serious, costing Saks more than $7 million last year. That money could have gone to employee benefits and other purposes but ``instead it went to criminals,'' he said. Ryder appeared to smile at that moment.
Ryder's infamous shopping trip on Dec. 12, 2001, garnered international headlines and became the buzz of late-night talk shows. During her trial, jurors were shown videotapes of Ryder wandering through the store's designer boutiques and taking a large number of items into dressing rooms.
The tapes did not show Ryder cutting off sensor tags with scissors, but a security guard testified she looked through door slats and witnessed the vandalism.
Security staff testified that after Ryder was caught, she claimed a director had told her to shoplift to prepare for a movie role.
The defense said that after Ryder's first purchase, the actress believed the store would keep her account ``open'' and charge her later. But there was no evidence of an account.
Earlier this week, prosecutors revealed that Ryder had eight narcotics in her possession -- all prescribed by doctors -- when she was arrested.
Transcripts made public after the trial disclosed that Ryder was suspected of shoplifting from two other high-end department stores in the past, but no charges were filed. Prosecutors were not allowed to present those allegations during the trial.
Ryder, who began her film career as a teenager in 1986, earned Academy Award nominations for ``Little Women'' and ``The Age of Innocence.''
The back looks worse, if you can believe it!
Nah. Dina Meyer. Starship Troopers, shower scene....
Get your priorities straight!
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| Fri Dec 6, 2:12 PM ET |
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Actress Winona Ryder (news) confers with her attorney Mark Geragos in the courtroom at the Beverly Hills municipal courthouse in Beverly Hills December 6, 2002 during her sentencing in her felony shoplifting case. Ryder was given three years probation, 480 hours of community service and ordered to pay $11,300 in fines and restitution. REUTERS/Steve Grayson/Pool |
When my sister was a manager at Wal-Mart, she told me that they caught a guy shoplifting two cartons of cigarettes. When the cops searched the guy, he had $400 in his wallet. The cop told him, "Damn, boy. You could have bought those smokes with a small fraction of that wad of cash. Now you'll be spending most of it on fines and court costs, and you'll lose a bunch of weekends for community service. And the kicker is, you ain't getting the smokes! Are you feeling real bright, boy?"
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