LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Los Angeles legal experts were sharply divided on Wednesday as to whether actress Winona Ryder was overcharged more by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office or by Saks Fifth Avenue.

A Beverly Hills jury on Wednesday convicted the 31-year-old actress of grand theft and vandalism -- both felonies -- for shoplifting various pieces of apparel and accessories from Saks last December, including such marked-up items as an $80 pair of socks and a $200 hair bow. At those prices, the 20 shoplifted items added up to $5,550 worth of pricey merchandise.

A lower price tag might have made it more difficult for prosecutors to justify charging the waif-like actress with two felonies.

But high prices at Saks were not the issue for Los Angeles lawyers who thought the real overcharging was done by District Attorney Steve Cooley, who was elected to office, in part, by charging that his predecessor was too soft on celebrity criminals. These lawyers say Cooley wanted to make an example of the waif-like Ryder.

"This is a witch hunt," a high-level prosecutor told the Los Angeles Daily Journal, a legal newspaper. "This was all designed to show we can win high-profile cases."

Deputy District Attorney Ann Rundle, in a statement following the reading of the verdict, denied that Ryder's case received special consideration or that the star was charged any differently than other first-time shoplifters.

Although the charges carry a possible prison sentence of up to three years, prosecutors said they would not seek jail time for the "Age of Innocence" star when she is sentenced on Dec. 6.

But the television program "Celebrity Justice" said a study it made showed that no other shoplifting defendant in Beverly Hills was charged with grand theft and burglary, two felonies that carry a maximum three-year sentence.

In addition, the Daily Journal said Cooley assigned eight prosecutors to Ryder's case and that Rundle postponed a murder trial to focus on the actress's case.

"The media has decided on its own without any evidence that extraordinary resources were given to this case," Rundle said.