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I already went to court once, the officer wasn't there, EVEN THOUGH i had to tell them that I would be coming to court AND the ticket number.. they should have had the guy there.
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Not quite. Basically, that was your "arraignment," or first appearance. You ever watch "Law and Order?" Right after the arrest, the bad guy is standing in court and pleads, "Not guilty." They, they skip ahead to the trial part. This time is given so that you and/or the officer can subpoena witnesses and gather evidence. The assumption is that you will show up and the prosecutor will offer you a deal or the opportunity to just pay the ticket. If you don't take it, they will schedule it for trial at which time the officer will be there under subpoena.
If it means that much to you, and if you plan on parking there again to do business with the shop, and you're going to fight it, take the time to gather a bunch of evidence. Take a lot of pictures that show there are no signs posted that prohibit parking, that you can safely park a vehicle without it protruding into the street, even subpoena the shop owner to testify that it's his property. I can't guarantee that you'll win, but most of the people I see that come to court that can articulate and bring pictures proving their defense walk out with a dismissal.
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Im not sure if a plee brgain is the same thing as fighting it, but I have to plee bargain my ticket so I dont get points.
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Not quite the same. Basically, the prosecutor offers to downgrade to a lesser offense. The most popular is any type of points ticket being downgraded to "Unsafe operation of a motorvehicle." That equates to careless driving without the points and insurance surcharges. On the downside, it costs just a shade under $500 and you can only plead guilty to this twice in your driving career. Oh, and most courts won't give a payment plan for it; it has to be paid that day. On the upside, it usually saves you about $2500 in insurance surcharges that would stretch over the course of three years. It really comes down to, do you want to spend a big chunk of cash today, or do you want to spend an even bigger chunk over the next few years?
79CamaroDiva, I hope that helps. Good luck!