Winona Ryder: I'm Innocent

Actress Winona Ryder pleaded innocent Friday to shoplifting and drug charges. Her lawyer said he would attempt to disqualify the District Attorney's office from trying the case.

The motion for disqualification by Ryder's attorney, Mark Geragos, was placed under seal, but he has previously said he believes prosecutors are not treating his client fairly.

Ryder, with her arm in a sling from an in jury allegedly suffered when she was bumped by a camera during a break in a previous hearing, said little during her arraignment.

She was asked by Superior Court Judge Elden Fox if she was entering a plea of not guilty and she responded, "Yes your honor," in a soft voice.

She and her lawyer left the courthouse without making any comments outside.

Ryder was ordered last week to stand trial on felony charges alleging she shoplifted some $6,000 worth of merchandise from Saks Fifth Avenue and illegally possessed a drug without a prescription.

The actress, who appears in the upcoming Adam Sandler comedy "Mr. Deeds," is charged with second-degree burglary, grand theft, vandalism and possession of a controlled substance.

Ryder faces a maximum of three years and eight months in state prison if convicted on all charges. She remains free on $20,000 bail.

A store security official testified during a preliminary hearing last week that she saw the actress cutting security sensor tags off the items, and a criminalist testified that two pills found in Ryder's possession were a generic form of Percoset, a prescription painkiller.

Fox said then that there was sufficient cause for her to be tried.

On Friday, the judge set a pretrial hearing for July 15 and said Ryder did not have to attend if she didn't want to. He also ordered that any motions concerning possible prior acts by Ryder be filed under seal. A tentative trial date was set for Aug. 13.

Prosecutors have said they may introduce evidence of prior misdeeds by Ryder.

A notice filed with the District Attorney's office last month indicates the prosecution's plan to show that the "Girl, Interrupted" star's alleged shoplifting is part of a pattern of behavior.

Court records show no previous convictions against Ryder.

Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney's office, has declined to provide details of the evidence, saying prosecutors would save that material for court.

If Ryder's motion to remove the District Attorney's office were to be granted, the state Attorney General's office would prosecute Ryder.

Gibbons said outside court Friday that such motions are rarely granted.

Gibbons said the district attorney would prefer that all motions be unsealed.

"We want a televised hearing and we want everything filed in the open," Gibbons said.

The judge has refused to allow any cameras in the courtroom and continues to issue orders sealing most documents in the case from public view.

Ryder came to court last week with her right arm wrapped in an elastic bandage and held in a sling. Geragos said Ryder's right arm broke at the elbow when she was "whacked" from behind while walking through a crush of reporters at the courthouse, causing several days' delay in the hearing.