Anita Baker Arrest Warrant Issued; Singer Alleges Conspiracy By Contractor, Judge

Singer Anita Baker is speaking out, alleging that she is the victim of a sinister conspiracy which led police to take out a warrant for her arrest this week.

A Detroit judge issued the warrant for the Grammy-winning singer after she supposedly failed to show up in court over a dispute with a home contractor.
Anita hired Ray Smith Painting and Decorating in 2009 to fix storm damage to her home, paying $60,000 up front for a $75,000 job. The issue?
Baker says Smith didn't finish the job, and what he did do was beyond bad. So much so that she finished it herself. Still, he's suing her for the balance.
She never even got served with legal papers, she claims, so when she no-showed the court date, she didn't realize she was no-showing anything.
When that happens, the judge can enter a default judgment, which happened here, ordering her to pay the $15,000. Which she didn't do, of course.
The contractor then tried to haul Anita Baker into court and grill her about where she kept her money, so he could go after it to satisfy the judgment.
The contractor claims he slapped the notice on her front door; Anita says she was on tour, never saw a notice and doesn't believe it was ever there.


As a result, Anita was a no-show a second time for that hearing, and on Wednesday, the judge issued the arrest warrant, leaving her shocked.
"I've never been in trouble with the law. I'm terrified," she said.
Baker says this isn't the first time someone has pulled this on her, as she's been served with legal papers and lost the case by default before.
It's not clear for what, but Anita's lawyer tells Celebritywatchdog that he's going to court next week to get the warrant lifted and the default judgment thrown out.
We'll see how successful he is in that pursuit.