THE WAIT - JURY IS OUT - NOVEMBER 5, 6, 2002

by Billy "T-Bone" Tsangares

All we can do is wait and hope at this point. It's way too late to try to bribe and/or flirt with the head juror. They're hidden away in some room somewhere, and unless I run into one in the bathroom, I think I'm just going to have to trust they come to the right decision on their own.

Just to show what a trooper Winona is -- she showed up today even when she didn't have to! She's got moxie, that's for sure. I'll let you know if I hear anything. Meanwhile, I'm gonna try to steal one of those Krispy Kremes sitting on the prosecutor's table.

**Read about the "hug that shook the world

12:00 pm PST **WINONA FOUND GUILTY**

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.- Oscar-nominated actress Winona Ryder (news) was found guilty of shoplifting charges 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.

Reuters/Variety