Ryder found
not guilty on burglary charge
But actress convicted
on vandalism charge
MSNBC NEWS SERVICES
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Nov. 6 Actress Winona Ryder was found not guilty Tuesday of burglary in her Beverly Hills, Calif., shoplifting case but was convicted on a vandalism charge. The decision, which came after 5½ hours of deliberations over two days, was announced shortly before noon. The Los Angeles County District Attorneys office initially said the verdict would be read in court at 11 a.m. PT (2 p.m. ET), but pushed the announcement back to later in the morning, saying more time was needed to contact lawyers.
THE 31-YEAR-OLD star of Girl, Interrupted was in court, dressed in maroon coat dress. She chatted with sheriffs deputies as she awaited the verdict.
Ryder was charged with grand theft, burglary and vandalism for allegedly stealing more than $5,500 worth of merchandise from the Saks Fifth Avenue store on Dec. 12, 2001.
Jurors had to decide whether the actress was a thrill-seeking thief as prosecutors suggested or the victim of overzealous department store security guards as the defense argued. The panel of six men and six women, which includes a movie studio boss and several others who work in the entertainment business, must reach a unanimous verdict on three counts grand theft, second-degree burglary and vandalism. In another development, the California 2nd District Court of Appeal chastised Superior Court Judge Elden Fox for refusing to release the questionnaires that jurors filled out at the start of the trial. The questionnaires focused on how much the jurors knew about the case and what opinions they had formed about the actress before they were called for jury duty.
The appeals court gave the judge time to correct the error. He was ordered to either release the information by Nov. 7 or file a petition of opposition with the appeals court by Nov. 11.
The court ruling came in response to an appeal filed by The Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times and the Los Angeles Daily Journal.
Ryder has appeared in more than two dozen other movies, including Mr. Deeds, Little Women, Reality Bites and Edward Scissorhands.
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The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
they convicted on the lesser charges -- grand theft and vandalism yes, burglary no. I don't know how vandalism is defined in the California law, but it usually implies taking some action to hurt property -- maybe cutting off the price tags constitutes vandalsim. maybe removing the property from its rightful place constitutes vandalism. I don't know the difference between grand theft and burglary in the California code. grand theft is a lesser included offense -- that means that "burglary" is "grand theft" with some additionla requirement. the jury felt the prosecutor didn't prove the additional requirement.
What part of this story did I miss?
