Hollywood Analysis: Show trial?

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- When a Saks Fifth Avenue security official testified at Winona Ryder's trial that the Oscar-nominated actress admitted shoplifting but said it was part of her preparation for a role, Ryder's lawyer was surprised -- but maybe not as surprised as most of the acting teachers in Hollywood.

Attorney Mark Geragos was blindsided by the testimony, because the information had not come up in pretrial discovery. Acting teachers may advise students to do a lot of strange things -- but breaking the law is not typically on the recommended list of preparation techniques.

Nowhere in "An Actor Prepares," Stanislavski's definitive book on the subject, does the Russian master suggest actual lawbreaking as a method of research for playing a character who breaks the law.

Howard Weitzman, one of Hollywood's leading celebrity lawyers, told United Press International he found it unusual that the prosecution would be able to get testimony into the record at trial without first turning it over to the defense as part of California's pretrial discovery process. But then he thinks the whole case has been unusual all along.

One of the most unusual aspects of the Ryder case, said Weitzman, is the selection of former Sony Pictures Entertainment chief Peter Guber to sit on the jury. Ryder made three high-profile pictures for the company when Guber was in charge. Weitzman said prosecutors made a mistake when they agreed to allow Guber to sit in judgment of Ryder.

"You would think the District Attorney would not want to take that gamble," he said. "But then they consistently gamble and lose in high profile cases."

Weitzman would know. He was the first attorney to represent O.J. Simpson in the double murder case against the football legend -- turning the case over to Robert Shapiro after just a few days.

"It isn't about Guber's integrity," said Weitzman. "He may or may not have a bias in favor of (Ryder) in view of the fact that he's still producing films in Hollywood. Why would one want to gamble that he may or may not be impartial?"

Guber, by the way, is also a lawyer, formerly specializing in corporate law. Given his background, it would not be surprising if he showed some leadership during the jury's deliberation -- making his view of the case and the defendant all the more vital.

Another Hollywood lawyer, Larry Feldman, told Daily Variety that someone -- either the defense or the prosecution -- may have to deal with unintended consequences for letting Guber sit on the jury.

"In this particular case, the dangers of having a celebrity jury are magnified because you have a celebrity defendant who apparently knows the defendant personally," said Feldman. "One side or the other has totally miscalculated the risk that comes with this type of juror."

Weitzman was genuinely taken aback by the security guard testimony that Ryder -- stopped cold on the street outside the store in possession of unpaid merchandise -- immediately confessed and said she had been advised by a director to prepare for a role by shoplifting.

"Her story doesn't make much sense," said Weitzman. "On the other hand, if the D.A. had that statement (from security guards), why didn't they turn it over (during discovery)? Then you have to ask the guards, 'Is this the first time you told the D.A. about this?'

The biggest mystery to Weitzman is why the defense and the prosecution didn't settle the case with a plea bargain.

"It kind of looks like the fight between the lawyers is taking precedence over whether this young lady is being allowed to avail herself of the plea bargain opportunity."

Regardless of the outcome of Ryder's criminal trial on felony grand theft, if she seriously thought she was perfecting her craft by walking out of an upscale department store with unpaid merchandise, then she will burnish a reputation as one of contemporary Hollywood's great flakes.