BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — A judge on Wednesday again delayed a preliminary hearing in the shoplifting case against actress Winona Ryder.

Superior Court Judge Elden S. Fox rescheduled for June 3 the hearing to determine whether Ryder will stand trial, after Ryder's lawyer, Mark Geragos, requested the delay because it conflicted with his court appearance in a murder case he's handling.

The hearing has been delayed several times since Ryder's arrest in December.

The request "was not unreasonable or wimpy," the judge said.

Prosecutor Julie Jurek objected to the delay.

"There's no reason to keep continuing the case," she said, arguing that the defense should be ready to proceed.

Ryder, who wasn't present at Wednesday's 10-minute proceeding, was represented by attorney Shepard Kopp, who said the defense continued to investigate the allegations.

The actress was arrested Dec. 12 for allegedly stealing about $4,800 in clothing from Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills. Police said she also possessed the painkiller oxycodone, a morphine derivative, without a prescription.

She has pleaded innocent to theft, burglary, vandalism and possession of a controlled substance.

Geragos has said Ryder was only carrying items between store departments and had a prescription for the drugs.

The 30-year-old actress, who earned Academy Award nominations for playing the heroines in the period films "Little Women" and "The Age of Innocence," is free on $20,000 bail and faces up to three years, eight months in prison if convicted.

Ryder has made fun of her brush with the law, appearing on the cover of the June issue of W magazine wearing one of the "Free Winona" T-shirts that have become cult favorites. She also joked about the arrest Saturday while appearing as the host of "Saturday Night Live," which was promoted with the tag line, "She'll steal your heart ... and more."

"It's good public relations, if anything," Kopp said in a news conference outside the court building after the hearing.

Waite had faced a year in jail, but Judge William Harrington said Tuesday he would not be imprisoned if he left New York and stayed away from Kennedy for at least three years.

Waite was arrested May 5 when he went to Kennedy's building and told the doorman he had an appointment with her. The doorman asked for his name, recognized it as the name for the person who had sent the letters and packages, and called police.

Kennedy, the 44-year-old daughter of the late president John F. Kennedy, was not home at the time.