Imprisoned Diaz Photog Loses Appeal

Mon., Oct. 16, 2006 4:18 PM PDT by Natalie Finn

The photographer who once snapped shots of Cameron Diaz's bare chest still has to cover himself with a prison jumpsuit.

On Monday, a three-judge panel rejected John Rutter's appeal to get his conviction on perjury, forgery and attempted grand theft charges overturned on account of alleged errors during his trial. The shutterbug was sentenced to 44 months in prison a year ago after a court determined that he tried to extort $3 million from Diaz in exchange for racy pictures and a video he took of her in 1992, pre-The Mask.

"Mr. Rutter did take advantage of a position of confidence that Ms. Diaz had in Mr. Rutter," Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor said in his July 2005 ruling, when the photographer was convicted. Pastor called him the "shot caller" in a "scheme to defraud Ms. Diaz."

But you can't convict someone just for being shady. The perjury charge resulted from Rutter's in-court statement in 2003 that he had a release form signed by Diaz giving him ownership of the photos he took. The prosecution called two experts to the stand, both of whom testified that the signature was fake.

Hence the forgery conviction, as well.

Rutter testified, however, that he had believed that the signature in his possession was authentic and told the court before his sentencing last year that he deeply regretted "the perception that I had done wrong."

"I never intended any harm," he said. "It's a shame this whole mess ever happened." Throughout the proceedings, Diaz maintained that she never signed any release form, and that, in 2003, Rutter said he had a European ad agency willing to shell out $5 million for the pictures if she wasn't willing to meet his $3 million asking price. Despite him being nice enough to offer her a discount, Diaz went to the cops instead.

The In Her Shoes star also walked away with a victory in March when an L.A. judge dismissed the $10 million civil suit Rutter filed against her accusing the actress of fraud and breach of contract. The judge also issued a permanent injunction preventing any sale, licensing or use of the no-longer-for-sale pics and video.

Next up for Diaz are the transatlantic romantic comedy The Holiday, costarring Jude Law and Kate Winslet, and another turn as Princess Fiona in Shrek the Third.