Wow, i feel you. I was in the same boat as you, almost identical story.
I got cited for 100+ on the 405 like four months ago. I contested the ticket and was given a trial. Here's my eperience, hope you won't have the same:
I got to the court, checked in with the clerk and waited almost an hour for the judge to get ready for hearing. The judge did not show up because of some emergency so a Commisioner replaced him. This commissioner is a female.
So i got into the court room with many others. I checked with the bailiff and the officer who cited me isn't there yet. But my case isn't going to be dismissed because the judge (commissioner) has not called my case yet.
So the commisioner began calling the case and names of the defendants and officer. Some of the officers were not there so the cases got dismissed. It's my turn and the commissioner called the name of the officer once, twice, and... she said out loud: "I was in the cafeteria talking with him a few minutes ago, he's probably there. Bayliff, can you check the cafeteria for officer ____ please."
I was f*ckin fuming. It's not because the judge is friendly with the officer, but because everyone else's case were dismissed when the officer doesn't show up and here i am waiting for the officer to be summoned.
I spoke up and the judge (comm) replied that the officer IS in the building so my case can't be dismissed. What The F*ck!
So the officer showed up, and got to speak first before me!?! He tells the same story as every other officers there at the courtroom: He saw me speeding, paced me for a while, stopped me and gave me a ticket. His car's speedometer was "calibrated on August 23rd 2007 and the error was +/- 1mph." That's the EXACT same date and error % for ALL the officers present there.
My turn to tell my story. I told the judge that I was going about 80 and not 100+, that most other cars on the freeway was going the same speed of 80+, that the officer might have mistaken my car for a different car that sped past me at over 100 (true story). The judge interupted me as I was going to pull out the notes that the officer wrote in his ticket book (i got the info from the CHP office in santa ana) that states that he paced me for a distance of 113, no unit. I converted that number to feet, yard, and meter. None of the result came close to a quarter mile (the unofficial distance that the officer is supposed to pace until he can determine if you're speeding or not).
The judge lectured me about how i could have killed someone, that i am stupid for speeding, etc. Then without listening to my defense, she found me guilty and fined me $300 with 30 days license suspension.
There's nothing i could have done so that's it.
The whole experience was f*cked up.
Sorry for the long story but i want you to know the tragic news before coming to court: that the judge doesn't side with the defendant. He/she has already prejudged your case as soon as the brief is read.
My advice is to do your homework, go to the CHP office and ask for a copy of the tix, the officer's daily log on that date, his ticketlog on that date, his vehicle's calibration, etc. Examine these documents and come to court prepared. I hope you get an understanding judge and won't experience the things i mentioned above.
hno:
arty:
