Winona Tape: Age of Innocence?

By Elizabeth Darst

Tuesday March 12, 2002 11:00 AM EST

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Yahoo Buzz
• E-mail

The videotape that was supposed to be the smoking gun in the case against Winona Ryder for alleged shoplifting has far less bite than previously thought, according to the Los Angeles Times. The newspaper, which viewed the tape on Monday, reports that Ryder, 30, can be seen wandering around the store for 90 minutes on the first and third floors. She tries on hats before visiting the designer sections, where she goes from Calvin Klein slip dresses to Donna Karan, Chanel and Yves St. Laurent. The paper says it looks like "a major shopping spree." But the tape does not show the actress cutting anti-theft devices off the merchandise, as some news reports have indicated. The Times reports that Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office, backed off statements she made in an earlier news release that the actress was caught on tape cutting off the devices with scissors. Ryder is charged with felony theft, burglary and vandalism (as well as possession of a prescription pain reliever without a prescription) for allegedly pilfering nearly $4,800 worth of merchandise. The tape does show Ryder struggling to carry several packages, placing a hat with a price tag on her head and later coming out of a dressing room with the tag gone, and putting several pairs of socks into another hat, the Times reports. She is also shown interacting with sales clerks, one of whom removes a tag from an item. Another brings Ryder a receipt inside a dressing room. Ryder attorney Mark Geragos told the newspaper, "Contrary to the public perception, this tape exonerates her. I'd say this is a prosecution, interrupted." Ryder, who is out of jail on $20,000 bail, is set to appear at a hearing on Thursday, where the tape will be shown.