Guard: I Saw Ryder Remove Tags
A Saks Fifth Avenue security guard has testified that she saw actress Winona Ryder remove security sensor-tags from several store items while kneeling on the floor of a fitting room.
Colleen Rainey also told the court in Beverly Hills that Ryder later apologetically claimed she was shoplifting to prepare for a movie role.
Rainey said Ryder took a pair of scissors from her tote bag to cut the tags off. Rainey also said Ryder took tissue paper out of a shopping bag and wrapped some hats, socks and hair accessories in the paper, then stuffed them into the bag.
At some point, Rainey said, Ryder had a cut on her finger and got two blood spots on a small white purse that she left behind after trying in vain to cut the sensor-tag from the purse.
Earlier, the head of security at the Beverly Hills Saks Fifth Avenue denied a defense accusation that he told a co-worker he planned to "nail" actress Winona Ryder in her shoplifting case.
Prosecution witness Ken Evans said he'd never said such a thing to anyone.
Defense attorney Mark Geragos had asked Evans if he'd made the remark to co-worker Michael Shore over lunch, soon after Ryder's December 2001 arrest.
Reviewing a store surveillance tape in the courtroom, Evans said he could see Ryder put her hand in the pocket of a coat on a rack.
He said he later found security alarm sensors in another coat -- and the sensors had material in them matching items Ryder's accused of stealing.
Evans completed his testimony in his third day on the stand.
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."'
Ryder is accused of stealing items totaling $5,560 including designer merchandise, including hats, handbags, tops and hair accessories last December. Ryder could face up to three years in prison if convicted of three felony counts of grand theft, second-degree burglary and vandalism.
The video showed Ryder examining a $1,595 white Gucci slip dress with a fringe hem. Evans pointed out to jurors how Ryder took the dress off its hanger and threw it over her arm.
The video ended with Ryder leaving the store and being confronted by a security guard and two others who followed her out. They immediately took her shopping bags and led her back into the store.