Not Guilty Plea To Diaz Extortion

Photog Denies Trying To Use Pre-Stardom Photos To Get $3.3M

(AP)  A photographer pleaded innocent Thursday to allegations that he tried to use photos of Cameron Diaz to extort $3.3 million from the actress.

John Rutter, 41, faces up to six years in prison if convicted of the charges — attempted extortion, grand theft, perjury and forgery. He entered his plea during a brief appearance in Superior Court. Commissioner Jeffrey M. Harkavy scheduled a Sept. 10 preliminary hearing.

Rutter was arrested Aug. 12 and held in lieu of $250,000 bail. Harkavy has said that if Rutter posts bail, he may not have any contact with Diaz.

Outside the court, Rutter's lawyer disputed a report the photos included topless shots of Diaz.

"You'll be surprised how tame some of these shots are," said attorney John Powers.

Harkavy granted Powers' request to remove cameras from the courtroom. Powers argued that appearing in prison garb on television would hurt Rutter's image and his ability to get a fair trial.

Attorneys for Diaz, who will turn 31 on Saturday, have declined to describe the photos or discuss the contents of a videotape taken from Rutter's apartment. Rutter told the syndicated news program "Inside Edition" in mid-July that he took the photographs well before Diaz's big break in the 1994 film "The Mask."

District attorney's spokesman Joseph Scott declined to comment on the case.

Earlier this month, a judge ordered the photographs and the videotape of Diaz sealed and set a Sept. 12 hearing in Superior Court on her request for an injunction against Rutter.

Rutter has said that he contacted Diaz's attorneys to offer them first right of refusal for the photographs before trying to sell them to media outlets. Soon after he contacted them, he said, his apartment was raided by authorities and the photos seized.

A publicist for Diaz has said the actress did not sign a photo release at the private modeling session, and a release produced by Rutter is a forgery.