Winona's "Positive" Progress
Finally, some good news in court for Winona Ryder.
A Beverly Hills judge on Monday gave the actress cum convicted felon the go-ahead to work on location movie sets and termed her probationary work "positive."
"I want to you to continue to do what you have been doing," Judge Elden S. Fox said. "These are positive reports, and I expect the next one to be the same."
Ryder, 31, was convicted last November 6 of felony grand theft and vandalism, stemming from a four-figure shoplifting spree at the Beverly Hills Saks Fifth Avenue in December 2001. Jurors, who included producer Peter Guber, spared her further indignity, clearing her of a burglary charge.
The two-time Oscar nominee was ordered to complete 480 hours of community service, pay about $10,000 in fines and restitution, and undergo counseling. Additionally, she was placed on three years' probation.
Monday was Ryder's first scheduled progress hearing before the court since December's sentencing.
Fox looked over reports from the City of Hope, the Duarte, California, cancer center where Ryder worked off her community service debt, and from the actress' probation officer. Suffice to say the reviews were among the best of her career.
The staff at City of Hope was "very complimentary" of Ryder, Fox said.
The probation officer's dispatch, meanwhile, noted that actress had paid all fines and kept all appointments (Ryder must check in with the probation department once a month). The report also said the Girl, Interrupted star was "participating in therapy" with a counselor at UCLA, and "progressing as expected."
Ryder attended Monday's hearing, and hence, got to hear the good stuff in person. As usual, she was her fashionable courtroom self--tied-back hair, black blazer, white shirt. And as usual, she let her lawyer do most of the talking. Attorney Mark Geragos said his client found her City of Hope stint "an amazing and positive experience." The actress has returned to the hospital to work even after her logging her court-required hours, Geragos said.
Fox reminded Ryder to keep up with the counseling, but overall seemed pleased. He said he didn't have a problem with her pursuing film work outside of California, or even the United States (as long as the probation officer is duly notified, natch).
Ryder is currently at work on the ensemble comedy Eulogy, which began shooting in Los Angeles in February.
About the only source of contention in court Monday was the hair bows and other fancy stuff that Ryder pocketed during her Saks misadventure. The department store wants the goodies, worth more than $5,500, destroyed; Geragos suggested a charity auction might be a more humane way of disposing the items.
"It seems silly to take thousands of dollars worth of merchandise and burn them in a bonfire," Geragos said. (Prosecutors don't want Ryder to claim any charity auction sales as a tax deduction--and therefore prove that crime does pay.)
Ryder is due back in court October 10 for another progress hearing.
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