Who Could Have Taken Winona's Report?

By Stephen M. Silverman

Monday November 11, 2002 01:00 AM EST

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The jokes may be obvious, but no one is laughing: Something big is missing from Winona Ryder's court file.

The Los Angeles County Probation Department tells the Associated Press that the actress's "pre-conviction report" has mysteriously disappeared from the department's Santa Monica office. Such a report normally contains personal information ranging from financial and medical histories to criminal records, if any exist.

Despite the disappearance, a spokesman for the department says there are backup copies of the report.

Meanwhile, newly released court transcripts in Ryder's shoplifting trial -- which concluded last week with a guilty verdict on two of the three felony counts against her -- reveal that the "Girl, Interrupted" actress, 31, was previously suspected of stealing from Neiman Marcus and Barney's before her arrest at Saks Fifth Avenue.

She was never charged in the incidents, the documents reveal. Ryder's attorney Mark Geragos declined comment to the AP, saying he had not been informed that the information was no longer under seal. (The Los Angeles Times and the AP were among those who sued for release of the documents under the Freedom of Information Act.)

Ryder was convicted Wednesday of felony grand theft and vandalism for shoplifting nearly $6,000 worth of merchandise from Saks last December. She was found innocent of a third charge of burglary. Her sentencing is set for Dec. 6, but prosecutors have said they will not seek jail time.