Winona Ryder found GUILTY

[Chadzilla]

of felony grand theft and vandalism!

[wheresthecarrot]

HAHAHAHAHAHA

[Evan3]

Its always refreshing to see an arrogant loser receive justice (like Robert Downey Jr.)

[raj]

Well, it was kinda hard to explain all that clothing and stuff with the price tags cut off.  Her latest excuse "I was just researching for a movie role, yeah, that's the ticket, a movie role that was going to win me an Oscar, yeah, and the presidency of France, yeah, that's the ticket" (sorry, just channeling for Jon Lovizt for a second) was pretty damn lame.  She should have said that she was whacked out on those pain pills, and didn't know what she was doing.

2 to 1 she gets no jail time, just probation, community service and a hefty fine.

[AndyC]

I'm not surprised she was convicted. Her lawyer's arguments made no sense.

[Chadzilla]

raj wrote:
>
>  
> 2 to 1 she gets no jail time, just probation, community
> service and a hefty fine.

My guess as well, jail sentence suspended, hefty fine, and community service...

maybe as a Door Greeter at Wal-Mart?

[John]

I think they should send her to jail and film it as a new women in prison movie. I'd pay to watch the shower scene.

[Squishy]

Eh, I'd be surprised if Robert frickin' Blake did time. They're celebrities, they tain't like you and me. Still, it WAS nice to see her found guilty...

[Evan3]

hmmm, how sad when the punishment doesnt fit the crime, in my opinion the jury should spend a month in Siberia for such lax punishment

[raj]

Wait, there hasn't been any punishment yet, we're all just guessing.  FWIW, most shoplifting cases result in very little, or no, jail time (at least for first offenses).

[Fearless Freep]

Yeah, the sentancing is not until next month or so.

Hard to say, shoplifting as a first offense doesn't seem to carry much of a penalty so if she got of with probation and community service, I don't think it would be too unreasonable, celebrity status or no.

On the other hand, the value of what she lifted was a lot higher than most shoplifting offences :)

[AndyC]

How do theft laws work in the USA? In Canada, when the stolen goods are worth more than $5,000, it becomes a different crime. There's theft under and theft over $5,000.

Assuming the charge of grand theft is comparable to our theft over, I'd think that would qualify her for a stiffer penalty than a shoplifter who rips off something small.

That said, I'm inclined to agree that she'll get a slap on the wrist.

[Dano]

raj wrote:  2 to 1 she gets no jail time, just probation, community service and a hefty fine.
*****  C'mon, raj, who the heck gets jail time for for a first-offense shoplifting rap??  If she was a nobody picked up for a first offense the 2 to 1 odds would be that the store wouldn't even press charges.

[raj]

It depends on the state, each one gets to set its own level of what is a felony and what's a misdemeanor.  There may be some federal constitutional issues involved in punishing too severely a petty crime (such as taking a candy bar and getting life in prison for it.)  California's three strikes law is actually now before the Supreme Court for that issue.  Apparently now Winona has 2 strikes, since she's gotten 2 convictions out of this.

I've stumbled across a good take on the California system here:
http://volokh.blogspot.com/
It's the fourth item down under the Wednesday, November 06, 2002 heading.

[Redjackr]

FREE WINONA!!!



sorry, i just had to say it