BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — The first witness in Winona Ryder's shoplifting trial testified the actress admitted trying to steal from a Saks Fifth Avenue store but insisted she was doing it to prepare for a movie role.

Security official Ken Evans testified Monday that he first met Ryder after she had been detained and while Saks officials in California and New York were trying to decide whether to refer the case to police.

"She was seated and she immediately stood up and took my hand," said Evans, the asset protection manager at the Beverly Hills store. "She said, 'I'm sorry for what I did. My director directed me to shoplift for a role which I was preparing.'"

The 31-year-old actress was arrested in December for allegedly stealing $5,560.40 worth of designer merchandise, including hats, handbags, tops and hair accessories. Ryder could face up to three years in prison if convicted of three felony counts of grand theft, second-degree burglary and vandalism.

In opening statements, Ryder was depicted by Deputy District Attorney Ann Rundle as a thief with a plan to shoplift. Ryder's defense team countered that she was the victim of overzealous security guards who never saw her steal anything.

Ryder defense attorney Mark Geragos objected that none of Evans' comments had been disclosed to him by prosecutors. Superior Court Judge Elden Fox overruled the objection.

Jurors also were shown about 45 minutes of videotape of Ryder recorded by security cameras. The tape showed her walking around the store, carrying packages and items she had taken off racks, with a hat bearing a price tag perched on her head.

Her attorney dismissed the videotape.

"It doesn't show her cutting off sensor tags or that she spent $3,700 there that day and they had her credit card," Geragos said.

Geragos said the store had her credit card on file and that Ryder told a clerk to keep it open. He said that when Ryder was detained she said, "You've got my credit card; you can do what you want with it."