> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Judge issues $50,000 bench warrant for her - URL: https://www.smdp.com/judge-issues-50-000-bench-warrant-for-her/ - Published: 2003-04-23T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T02:05:32.000Z - Author: John Wood - Tags: Crime, Santa Monica, #archive-import *Wedding photographer wanted by SM police* A $50,000 bench warrant was issued for a local wedding photographer who didn’t show up in court Tuesday to answer to criminal charges for the second week in a row. If Juli Anne Arm-itage is found by police officers, the former Santa Monica resident will be taken into custody until she posts bail or her case is heard, according to the warrant issued by Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Bernard Kamins. Armitage faces 17 counts of fraud for allegedly taking her clients’ money and not delivering their wedding photos. Armitage, who works a second job waiting tables in Ventura, has a history of not showing up in court that stretches back to roughly a dozen small claims trials she’s been involved in, according to court documents. At Deputy City Attorney Adam Radinsky’s request, Kamins issued and held a bench warrant in February for the current case after Armitage failed to appear at an arraignment. The judge said if Armitage did not appear the following week, he would release the warrant. Armitage attended the next hearing, but her public defender, Cathy Pattin-son, didn’t. Pattinson, who has refused comment throughout the proceedings, had reportedly run in the L.A. Marathon the day before. After finally pleading innocent to the charges last month, Armitage missed her first pre-trial hearing last week. Then came Tuesday’s no-show, which was the last straw for Kamins. The city filed charges against Armitage in December, which allege that she took an average of $2,000 each from 40 local couples between 2000 and 2002, then never came through with wedding photos. Armitage, who pleaded not guilty last month, is charged with 17 separate counts of fraud. The city said it will seek restitution for all 40 couples. If convicted, Armitage faces a maximum of up to one year in jail and $2,700 in fines and penalties for each of the 17 counts. Armitage said last month the city does-n’t want to send her to prison. The city attorney’s office offered a plea bargain that would have reduced the number of counts against her and kept her out of jail, Armitage said at the time. She did not accept the plea. Pattinson is hoping to move the charges out of the criminal arena and have them tried in a civil court where they belong, Armitage said, adding that said she is guilty of bad bookkeeping and nothing more. She maintained that her intentions were never criminal and accused the city of standing in the way of her business by seizing her entire home office as evidence. The city didn’t pursue her criminally until she demanded it return her property if no charges were going to be filed, she said. Earlier this year, Armitage successfully filed for bankruptcy and cleared roughly $100,000 in debts, said Paul Cohen, her attorney in that proceeding. Criminal fines and penalties are not covered by bankruptcy and neither are debts incurred after the bankruptcy is filed, Cohen said. Cohen criticized the city for filing criminal charges against Armitage and said the alleged wrongdoing was clearly a civil matter. Past clients of Armitage have also questioned the way Armitage has been treated by the city. Philip DeLeo, who hired Armitage for his 2001 wedding, said he contacted the attorney’s office earlier this year looking for negatives he suspected had been seized by police. Though they didn’t have his negatives, DeLeo said the city pushed him to sign onto the lawsuit — even though Armitage had delivered to him what she had promised. DeLeo, who said he grew anxious when Armitage stopped returning his calls, came to court earlier this year to ask Armitage for the negatives. He said Tuesday that Armitage brought the negatives to his Woodland Hills home the evening of the day he showed up in court and spent hours with him and his wife planning which images to use. DeLeo, who is still owed a few hundred dollars by Armitage, said he couldn’t believe his former wedding photographer is now a wanted woman. “That’s really bad news,” he said. “She’s really nice, she’s just mixed up. “I think her heart’s in the right place. It’s not like she’s a con artist or anything — she’s just a flake.” > “ It’s not like she’s a con artist or anything — she’s just a flake.” — — PHILIP DELEO Customer *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 23, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/042303.pdf?ref=smdp.com)