Hollywood actress Cameron Diaz testified yesterday that she wasn't ashamed to pose topless in her early years of career, arguing she was hoping to advance her career as a model in the art magazine market.

"I wasn't ashamed to be out there like that," Ms Diaz told the jury. "It was a professional shoot. It wasn't like in a back alley." She added that she believed she looked good topless: "At least I have that going for me," she recalled thinking.

Nevertheless, Diaz declared she "felt violated" when the photographer, John Rutter, approached the actress in June 2004, offering her a staggering $3.5 million for the photos, trying to extort her, just days before the release of "Charlie's Angels: Fully Loaded".

Also, Cameron affirms that she never signed on a model release to give ownership of the photos to photographer John Rutter. "I have never signed my name like that," said Diaz.

Rutter, 42, is charged with attempted grand theft, forgery and perjury. If convicted, he could face up to six years in prison; an extortion charge has been dropped.

But the photographer's lawyer insists he was simply trying to "be a nice guy" by coming to her first.

"This is the case of a rich and powerful movie star who, through this prosecution, is seeking to crush and destroy John Rutter," defense attorney Mark Werksman said in opening arguments.