Actress Ryder has Sentence Reduced

Actress Winona Ryder, known for her roles in such films as "Beatlejuice" and "Girl, Interrupted" and, more recently, a long trial for a felony shoplifting conviction in 2002, has had her hefty charges reduced to lesser misdemeanor charges. After being caught stealing thousands of dollars worth of merchandise from a Los Angeles Saks Fifth Avenue store, Ryder was charged with felony grand theft and vandalism. Ryder is on probation until December 2005 and, as her judge warned her Friday, any wrong move could land her in jail. However, her probation will be unsupervised. This ruling gives Ryder more freedom in her career which could have been marred by a felony conviction. The unsupervised probation will also allow her to act in more films.