After leaving the swearing-in ceremony for LA Police Chief William Bratton, we headed up to Beverly Hills for a great lunch at Ivy and to catch some of the Winona Ryder shoplifting trial. We wanted to say hello to her lawyer, Mark Geragos, and see for ourselves how the trial was going. We sat in on the testimony of the police officer who related the entire story of how Winona was followed around the store and then arrested.

Winona looked beautiful and listened intently. The courtroom was filled, mainly with journalists. Mark is upbeat about his defense, that Winona was set up because of her celebrity, that the police have changed their stories several times, they treated her rudely and unfairly and no one saw her cut the tags or plastic theft-stoppers off the items she is alleged to stolen.

One spectator of note was Mark Klass, father of Polly Klass, who after her murder several years ago, became a leading child's rights advocate. We have debated him many times on tv, usually ending in a screaming match, and have never agreed with him on any topic. We were very polite when we saw him at the trial, however, and asked him why he was there. He told us he has been attending regularly to support Winona because she has been a big supporter of his child victim's advocacy foundation.

We believe that the DA's are treating Winona differently and more harshly because of her celebrity. The resources the city is spending to prosecute her for a first shoplifting offense is unprecedented. We think anyone else would have been offered a deferred judgment or a misdemeanor plea. Why is the prosecution so intent on getting a felony from her? If we were a taxpayer in Beverly Hills, we'd be angry and demand an explanation.