Winona jury retires for night after failing to reach verdict

The jury hearing Hollywood star Winona Ryder's shoplifting trial has failed to reach a verdict.

The jury of six men and six women spent five hours deliberating the case.

Ryder denies stealing nearly €6,000 worth of designer merchandise from an exclusive store during a pre-Christmas shopping spree last year.

The jurors will return to Beverly Hills Superior Court at 6pm Irish time to continue their deliberations.

Ryder made a brief appearance at the courthouse at the start of the day but left after about an hour.

The jury received the case late on Monday after closing arguments in which the prosecution suggested the actress shoplifted for the thrill of it and the defence portrayed her as the victim of over-zealous security guards.

"She came, she stole, she left, end of story," prosecutor Ann Rundle said in her closing argument.

As for why the actress would have done such a thing, the prosecutor said: "Nowhere does it say people steal because they have to. People steal out of greed, envy, spite, because it's there or for the thrill."

Defence attorney Mark Geragos suggested that Saks Fifth Avenue, trying to avoid a lawsuit, conspired with employees to invent a story that would make Ryder appear to be a thief and vandal.

In an aggressive closing argument, Geragos charged that witnesses changed their stories and, in one case, taped over a security videotape that might have contained important evidence.