Okay quick rundown.
I got my first ever ticket back in May of 2011. The ticket was a moving violation of going through a red light. I am being 1000% honest here, I did NOT go through the red light.
That morning there was a Con Ed truck working on the box by the intersection. From a distance I did not see it. Only as I got close to the light did I see the end of the cab was blocking the intersection (only a tiny portion was sitting out) so I had to quickly shift to the middle lane. After I switched lanes, I saw there was a red light. I was honestly more concerned with not hitting the damn truck. I screeched to a halt, and stopped before the red light.
The important thing to note here is that the traffic light is on the other end of the intersection, and not where I was. If I had truly gone through the light, I probably wouldn't even be sitting here right now. I would have been in an extremely bad accident as there was plenty of oncoming traffic. I backed up a bit and the officer came over to me. She proceeded to write me a ticket for going through the light. I was a little shook up, and I usually do not make it a habit of arguing with cops.
So I finally got the notice to appear in court for Feb 29. (our system is really fucking slow) So I'm wondering what the fuck to do. I know unless the cop isn't there, or you go before the judge directly and you tell your case you can get your case dismissed if it is found reasonable. I don't know how the judges in the area are though. 99% sure the officer will be there. I know before you go to the judge, you go to pre trial conference with the officer (I think) and usually in the area they will let you off with something small like a seat belt or some other small non-moving violation.
Thing is, I'm not sure at all how to approach the officer about it to get a less severe ticket. Any assistance here would be greatly appreciated, as I cannot afford to have my insurance jacked up for something I legitimately did not do. I think my story is straight enough where I could explain it to the judge, but if I just have to pay $100 and go for a seat belt ticket I'd much rather do that.
Suggestions to those have been in a similar situation?