"Girl, Arrested" - Winona Rydes Her Luck

On December 12, 2001, Winona Ryder, best known for her roles in "Girl, Interrupted" and "Little Women" was arrested for shoplifting $5,500 US Dollars worth of designer clothes and accessories at a Saks Fifth Avenue department store in Beverly Hills, California. Los Angeles District Attorney Stephen Cooley produced a team of eight prosecutors. Cooley filed four felony charges against her in what was described by a British newspaper The Guardian as a "show-trial", since the prosecution demanded the trial be televised. Negotiations for a plea-bargain failed at the end of summer 2002. As noted by Joel Mowbray from the National Review, the prosecution was not ready to offer the actress what was given to 5000 other defendants in similar cases, an open door to a no-contest plea on misdemeanor charges.



During the trial, she was also accused of using drugs without valid prescriptions. According to a probation report, Ryder had filled up to 37 prescriptions written by 20 doctors, using six different aliases, in a three-year period. The defense produced the written prescriptions for the drugs that the police found in her purse, and the prosecution consequently dropped the charge. Ryder was convicted of grand theft and vandalism, but was acquitted on the third felony charge, burglary. In December of 2002, she was sentenced to three years' probation, 480 hours of community service, $3,700 in fines, and $6,355 in restitution to the Saks Fifth Avenue store—and was also ordered to attend psychological and drug counselling by the judge.

The charges were eventually reviewed, and on June 18, 2004 the felonies were reduced to misdemeanors.

Would this story have had so much media hype if an non-celebrity had commited the crimes?

Sources: Wikipedia.com, BBC.co.uk
Video Source: MTV/Youtube