Prosecutor Suggests Therapy for Winona

By Stephen M. Silverman

Wednesday December 04, 2002 01:00 PM EST

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Convicted shoplifter Winona Ryder will likely escape a jail sentence when she returns to Beverly Hills Superior Court on Friday, but prosecutors say she should face drug and psychiatric counseling, according to newly released court papers.

The reason for the proposed counseling? At the time of her arrest, court papers say, Ryder was found with eight different drugs on her -- including such sedatives as Valium and Diazepam and opiates such as Vicoden and Oxycodone, Reuters reports.

She obtained some of the drugs under two different names "from several different physicians," say the legal papers, which also reveal that prosecutors are recommending she be given three years probation, community service and a fine of $10,000.

Prosecutor Ann Rundle suggested that Ryder "should be ordered to cooperate with her probation officer in a plan for both drug and psychiatric counseling."

The "Girl, Interrupted" star, 31, was found guilty Nov. 6 of stealing nearly $6,000 worth of merchandise last December from a Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills, where a security video showed her leaving the store bundled in expensive clothing that she hadn't paid for.

Court transcripts released after the trial suggested she had been suspected of shoplifting on two previous occasions before her conviction. Ryder never testified at her own trial.