Kirsten Dunst's personal assistant has confirmed she was keeping marijuana in the hotel room where the actress' purse was snatched in 2007 - but insists the star had no knowledge of the drugs.

Liat Baruch took the stand at a court in New York on Thursday at the trial of a man accused of stealing the "Spider-Man" star's designer handbag from her suite at the city's SoHo Grand Hotel.

James Jimenez was convicted on a charge of criminal trespass in October but is facing a retrial at Manhattan Supreme Court after a jury last year failed to reach a verdict on charges of felony burglary.

A lawyer for the 35 year old claimed during a hearing on Wednesday that his client gained access to the penthouse because he was with alleged drug dealer Jarrod Beinerman, who was reportedly invited to Dunst's hotel room - but the claim was denied by the star's rep.

Dunst's assistant Baruch has now admitted there was marijuana in her bag, which was taken along with Dunst's Balenciaga purse. But she is adamant the actress was not aware of the stash, and she had no intention of sharing the drugs with her celebrity boss.

She told the court, "I had a little bit of marijuana in my bag. No one else smoked pot. I was planning on smoking it alone after we wrapped, after work."

And when defense attorney Robert Parker asked her, "You were going to smoke that with Ms. Dunst, right? Ms. Dunst knew you had the marijuana in your bag, correct?" Baruch replied, "No".

Dunst, who testified at the original trial last year, is expected to take the stand again next week.