Lindsay Lohan arrives for a hearing at the Airport Branch Courthouse in Los Angeles April 22, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Lindsay Lohan arrives for a hearing at the Airport Branch Courthouse in Los Angeles April 22, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Lohan, 24, has strenuously denied that she deliberately walked out of a Los Angeles store wearing a necklace without paying. Her lawyer on Friday argued that she was distracted and absent-minded when she left with the item around her neck.

Lohan's assistant returned it to police after news leaked that a search warrant was to be served on Lohan's house.

"There is a lot of hoopla surrounding Ms. Lohan, but at the end of the day, relatively speaking, this is not particularly serious as grand thefts go," Lohan's lawyer Shawn Holley said. "This is a necklace ... that was returned 10 days later."

But judge Sautner did not buy the defense argument. "I see the intent here and I see the level of brazenness with 'let me see what I can get away with'," Sautner said.

"She thumbs her nose at the court, she walks into court with FU on her fingernails," Sautner said, referring to an appearance last year by Lohan in another case.

Lohan has been in and out of rehab, jail and courtrooms multiple times since 2007. Once considered among the most promising young actresses in Hollywood, Lohan's movie career has come to a virtual halt.

Earlier this week she secured a role in an upcoming film about New York mobster John Gotti. But it was not clear how she would fit filming around possible prolonged spells locked up.