Wedding photographer freed
After spending 12 days in jail, a local wedding photographer pleaded no contest to four counts of grand theft on Friday.
Juli Anne Armitage, who allegedly took money from more than 30 couples but didn’t deliver their wedding photos, was ordered freed immediately after the hearing.
She will not serve any more jail time or pay any money in fees and penalties if she abides by the parameters of her plea, which demands that she work with the city attorney to return all the images in question.
“It was important to us that every penny that was available go back to the couples and not to the court system,” said Adam Radinsky, head of the consumer protection division of the city attorney’s office. “It is very sad that so many couples have been in limbo for so long about their priceless wedding pictures.”
Armitage will return to court May 14 to begin the process of returning all images to the couples that hired her. She will be assigned a probation officer and will be asked to complete 180 days of psychiatric counseling, according to the terms of her sentence.
She will also be asked to pay restitution to the couples, which Radinsky said would be in the neighborhood of $50,000.
Armitage will not be barred from working as a photographer, though the court did demand she accept only a 10 percent downpayment for her jobs and take no more than 50 percent of her fee before the photo shoots take place.
“I’m giving you a life-saving rope,” said Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Bernard Kamins, who told Armitage he was impressed with the quality of her work. “You can use it to climb out or you can use it to hang over your head.”
Armitage, who was bound in handcuffs and dressed in a jail-issued blue jumpsuit, appeared pleased by the resolution. She shook hands with Radinsky and hugged Kerry Golub, her fill-in public defender for the past five days, after the hearing.
The charges had been outstanding for nearly half a year before Armitage’s Friday plea. “(This resolution is) nothing short of a real miracle to the community,” said Kamins, who praised Golub for coming to court on Friday, her day off, to ensure the case was resolved.
Kamins said Armitage’s jail time was the catalyst to resolving the case. Armitage was taken into custody April 28 on a bench warrant after being stopped by Ventura police for allegedly jay-walking, said Paul Cohen, a bankruptcy attorney who Armitage called from jail.
Cohen earlier this year represented Armitage in a hearing that got her off the hook for about $100,000 of accrued debt.
Kamins issued the bench warrant last month after Armitage failed to appear at two consecutive hearings. Armitage was being held on $50,000 bail at the Twin Towers jail in downtown L.A.
Radinsky said phone calls from Armitage’s past customers have been pouring in because of the media exposure.
Armitage’s story was first printed in the Daily Press in December. It received heightened coverage late last month when KCAL- 9 ran a segment and earlier this week the L.A. Times ran a story about Armitage. Several other news outlets have investigated the story since then, officials said.
Armitage’s former clients have described her as a skilled photographer. They said she was flaky, but not malicious or criminal, and wondered how she allowed herself to get tangled in such a mess.
Cohen echoed that sentiment, saying the matter should have been pursued in civil — not criminal — court.
Armitage has chalked up her legal mess to mismanagement and said she is guilty of bad bookkeeping but nothing more.
Armitage has a long history of missed court dates that stretches back to more than a dozen small claims trials in which she’s been involved. The city filed 17 counts of grand theft against her in December, saying she took an average of $2,000 from dozens of local couples and failed to deliver their wedding pictures.
Though she pleaded to four counts of grand theft Friday, that number will be reduced to one and she will be taken off of formal probation and put on summary probation if she abides by the parameters of her plea.
If she does not follow the rules, Armitage will be taken back into custody.
Golub said that outcome is unlikely. “It’s been clear to me that Ms. Armitage wants to make her customers whole,” she said. “She is sincere in her efforts.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 10, 2003. Read the original PDF.