My question involves a security deposit in the State of: California

I signed a one year lease with my first roommate and lived with him from 8/1/06 to 9/30/07. At this time, he moved out and I had another roommate lined up to replace him. My original roommate and I received a security deposit return form for the full amount, so I gave my old roommate his half and my new roommate gave me his deposit. So the landlord pretty much just kept the deposit, but he did give us and sign the security deposit refund form for the full amount.

Starting 10/1/07, we had a new month to month lease contract with my new roommate and I. It looked the same as the old lease, except it did have written "From previous lease" at the top. It had the same deposit amount stated on it.

At this time, I knew my landlord well enough to know he was shady, and was going to try to rip us off on our deposit. So I took pictures on 9/23/07 of the apartment, to show the quality of the apartment before our new month to month lease began. The landlord refused to review the status of the apartment or check conditions of it in between roommates.

Of course, we recently moved out in June, and the landlord kept all of the deposit, with $1200 painting, inflated cleaning fees, etc. My question is:
Will my pictures from in between roommates of the apartment condition stand in court? I figure since we received the security deposit form, that shows that the owner approved of the condition of the apartment at that time. So the condition of the apartment at the time the new roommate moved in, when the new contract was signed, is all that should matter - and that's when the pictures were taken. I am worried that my pictures might only be relevant if I had taken them before my original lease with my original roommate. Does anyone know if my worries can be put to rest?

Thank you very much in advance!