BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — A former employee of Saks Fifth Avenue department store testified Friday in Winona Ryder's shoplifting trial that the head security guard told him of plans to cook up evidence against the actress.

"[Kenneth Evans] mentioned that he would basically nail that rich Beverly Hills bitch for shoplifting charges," testified Michael Shoar, who now works for Saks' competitor Neiman Marcus. "He would make enough evidence to show that the charges were true."

Evans testified earlier in the week for the prosecution that he watched Ryder, 31, wander through the store while her bags grew steadily larger.

Shoar's testimony could provide jurors, who will begin deliberations on Monday, with support for a pattern of inconsistencies that Ryder's defense has tried to establish in the reports and testimony of the security personnel who apprehended his client on Dec. 12, 2001.

But it could also be seen as a gross fabrication by a man with an axe to grind against Saks.

Prosecutor Ann Rundle established on cross-examination that Shoar is currently embroiled in a bitter dispute with his former employer over the treatment of his wife, also a Saks employee, at another store location.

Shoar made no attempt to deny that as early as two weeks ago he stood outside the Beverly Hills Saks Fifth Avenue passing out pamphlets laden with accusations against the store and its executives.

He also acknowledged that his wife had filed suit against the company, that Geragos had agreed to discuss his case with him after Ryder's trial concluded, that he was banned from the Costa Mesa Saks where he worked before quitting, and that he made a number of calls to Saks executives threatening to sue them.

"Isn't it true as you sit here today that you're angry with Saks Fifth Avenue?" asked Rundle.

"No," said Shoar as the packed gallery and even jurors erupted in laughter. Ryder, who is charged with grand theft, burglary and vandalism, did not laugh.

Prosecutors say she stole $5,560.40 of merchandise from Saks by cutting off security tags and hiding the items in shopping bags she brought into the store. If convicted, she could face up to three years in prison, but would likely receive probation.

Barring any unforeseen evidence presented Monday morning, Ryder's defense case consisted of testimony from Shoar, two members of the Beverly Hills Police Department, and a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office.

Geragos spent only three hours Friday afternoon with his four witnesses, emphasizing two themes: that four security tags Ryder allegedly cut from clothing and then ditched in the store did not appear in initial reports filed by security personnel, and that Beverly Hills police claimed initially to have videotape of her cutting the Sensormatic tags free.

During the prosecution's four-day, six-witness case, head security guard Kenneth Evans testified that he watched Ryder from a closed-circuit station in the basement of the store for an hour and a half as she selected merchandise — from a $1,500 Gucci dress to an $80 pair of cashmere  socks — and then ducked into dressing rooms.

Colleen Rainey, also a member of the store's security staff, told the court that she peered through the slats in one of the dressing rooms to see Ryder cutting security tags off a number of items.

After Ryder was detained, testified Beverly Hills Police Department Detective Mark Parker, she claimed to have shoplifted to prepare for a movie role.

But Geragos, a talk-show fixture known for successfully defending Susan McDougal in the Whitewater Savings and Loan scandal, has maintained that his client is a victim of overzealous security guards.

Superior Court Judge Elden Fox assured jurors that they would get the case Monday after lawyers hash out some preliminary issues.

Rundle will have a chance to present rebuttal witnesses but could decide that her case is strong enough as is.