Winona Gets Gold Star

Mon., Dec. 15, 2003 2:45 PM PST by Marcus Errico

Here's a switch--Winona Ryder actually cracked a smile in court Monday.

The Age of Innocence/guilty of shoplifting actress, who has logged some serious court time since her arrest, conviction and subsequent probation for her illicit Saks spree, flashed a quick smile as a judge gave her a gold-star-worthy progress report.

"Ms. Ryder, I want to compliment you on your conduct on probation," said Judge Elden S. Fox during a brief hearing in his Beverly Hills courtroom. "This is a very positive report...things are going well."

So well, the judge intimated, that he could strike the felony counts against her down to misdemeanors if she keeps up the good work.

That prompted the usually stoic Ryder, in her typical all-black court attire, to show her pearly whites. Otherwise, the 32-year-old, two-time Oscar nominee was mum.

Ryder was convicted in November 2002 of felony grand theft and vandalism, stemming from a four-figure shoplifting rampage at the Beverly Hills Saks Fifth Avenue in December 2001 (she was acquitted on a commercial burglary charge). She was placed on three years' probation, and ordered to pay about $10,000 in fines and restitution and undergo counseling. She has already completed the mandated 480 hours of community service at the City of Hope Medical Center near Los Angeles.

Although her actual progress report was sealed, Fox said Ryder had been doing a bang-up job with her counseling, too.

Fox ordered the Reality Bites star to return to court May 26 for a six-month review, and said he would decide then if she needs continued probation supervision.

On a side note, Ryder was repped in court Monday by Shepard Kopp, not Mark Geragos who had fronted for her in previous court appearances, including an earlier progress report last April. Geragos, of course, has his hands full with the Michael Jackson and Scott Peterson cases.

Aside from behaving herself, Ryder has been back at the day job. While she lost out on a potentially plum post-arrest part in Woody Allen's next comedy because, take your pick, (a) she couldn't come to contract terms or (b) her felon status made her too expensive to insure, Ryder does have a role in the independent drama The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things, due for art-house release next year, and is also on board for the romance Embers.