> ## 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.

# Wedding photographer in custody in LA County
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/wedding-photographer-in-custody-in-la-county/
- Published: 2003-05-07T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T02:07:25.000Z
- Author: John Wood
- Tags: Crime, Downtown, #archive-import

*Photographer to face judge*

A local wedding photographer who allegedly bilked 40 couples out of about $2,000 each was arrested last week and is scheduled to go before a judge today.

Juli Anne Armitage was arrested and taken into custody in Ventura on April 28 for repeatedly failing to appear in court to answer to criminal charges levied by the Santa Monica City Attorney’s Office nearly five months ago.

She was transferred to the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown L.A. on May 2\. Her bail is set at $50,000.

Armitage faces 17 counts of fraud. She is accused of taking her clients’ money and failing to come through with their wedding albums.

She has said that she simply got behind in dealing with her clients and is guilty of bad bookkeeping but nothing more.

Armitage, who works a second job waiting tables in Ventura, blames the city for worsening the situation by seizing her property and said the charges were only filed after she demanded her negatives be returned so she could deliver finished albums to her clients.

Couples that have hired Armitage describe her as flaky but good-intentioned and wonder how she got tangled up in such a mess.

Armitage, who declared bankruptcy and cleared about $100,000 in debt earlier this year, has a history of not showing up in court that stretches back to about a dozen small claims trials she’s been involved in with clients, according to court documents.

After a series of no-shows and other delays in the criminal case against her, Armitage pleaded innocent to the charges in March. She was reportedly offered a plea bargain by Deputy City Attorney Adam Radinsky that would have reduced the charges to four counts.

Armitage told the Daily Press she wouldn’t accept the plea because she felt the case should be handled in civil court.

Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Bernard Kamins, who issued a bench warrant for Armitage in February, refused to release Armitage on Monday without the $50,000 bail.

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. The city also will seek restitution for the remaining 23 couples who are not part of the criminal charges but who haven’t allegedly been reimbursed by Armitage.

Cathy Pattinson, Armitage’s public defender, has declined to comment throughout the case.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 7, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/050703.pdf?ref=smdp.com)