googamooga@aol.com (Googamooga) wrote in message news:<20040608225810.07445.00000855@mb-m03.aol.com>...
> I got a parking ticket for parking by a fire hydrant (yea I was a dumb ass).
> On the ticket I noticed the officer wrote my car was a 2 door when I have a 4
> door. Is that small mistake by the officer good enough to fight my ticket? I
> read somewhere that a small mistake like that will be enough for the judge to
> throw the ticket away.

About the only small mistake that's likely to work is if the license plate
number is wrong. Other than that, it one might be able to get it thrown
out if you're talking a matter of inches into a section.

> Now if I did fight the ticket and go to court, I would have to take half a day
> off work, the money I lose from work is about how much the ticket is worth
> ($45). Hmmmm should I just pay ? Or maybe the court session won't take me
> more than 2 hours.
>
> give me some ideas guys.

Don't bother. However - I doubt that your fine would be increased for
fighting it. You may spend 2 hours, but you've got less than 2 minutes
before the judge. I fought a moving violation ticket in San Francisco
once (about $120 fine). It was barely yellow when I entered an
intersection, but the cop said it was red. I put on a shirt and tie,
was prepared to say it was yellow (the truth), and the officer didn't
show - ticket thrown out. My understanding is that the SFPD didn't
pay officers for their time in traffic court. Most officers won't
bother since they could just write up four more tickets in the time it
takes for court (I did see a few cops there). The CHP however will
pay their officers while they appear in court. I see CHP vehicles
parked outside the traffic court across the street near my office.