Actress Winona Ryder found guilty of shoplifting

BEVERLY HILLS - Oscar-nominated actress Winona Ryder was found guilty of shoplifting charges on Wednesday after an extraordinary six-day trial.

A jury of six men and six women convicted Ryder, 31, of walking out of the posh Saks Fifth Avenue store in Beverly Hills last December with some $5,500 of designer tops, handbags, hairbows and socks stuffed in her shopping bags and hidden on her person.

The panel, which included former Sony Pictures studio head Peter Guber, found her guilty of grand theft and vandalism but not guilty of commercial burglary.

The Oscar-nominated actress had pleaded not guilty to the charges but did not take the stand. Her defense lawyers had argued that she was the victim of an elaborate conspiracy by Saks to frame her.

The verdict by the jury was carried live on television because of the enormous media interest the case generated.

Ryder faces a possible prison term of up to three years when she is sentenced at a later date.