I don't think you did anything wrong, but I'm going to bust your balls some, just like the judge might. First off, technically you were not in a turning lane, it wasn't marked for turns, but then on the other hand, it wasn't clearly marked for not turning.
Also
you should have kept your mouth shut when the cop was giving you the ticket. Cops aren't there for debating your case, that's for judges and lawyers. You admitted your guilt when you said you were turning, had you said your were parked, the other guy might have come out at fault, or you would have got a parking ticket. If that cop gets on the stand, he's a witness to what you said.
Anything you say, can and will be held against you in a court of law.
That's why when a cop pulls you over, he ask, "
do you know why I pulled you over?", if you say, "
yeah I was speeding", that's it, you admitted guilt and there's no way in hell of getting out of that ticket. If you say "
no, did I do something wrong?, then everything is up to the courts at that point.
It's going to be hard to plea bargain to a nonmoving violation, with the DA, bacause of the damage done to his car. The DA will want proof that his car is fixed first befroe he makes an offer.
If I were you, I would get nice 8 X 10 color pics, showing that the lane is not marked for prohibiting turning at that point. Later on they could come back and put up signs, and that might hurt your case.
Getting out of tickets is hard, I lost a bunch before I learned how to play the game. I got out of a speeding ticket about a month ago, because I proved my speedometer is broken. It wasn't dropped, but at least I got it reduced to "faulty equipment" which is a nonmoving violation.
Go to your public library and make sure the ticket is written for the proper statue. Often there also precedence set that others have fought (and won), those will help you with your case too. A friend of mine rear ended somebody, and the cop wrote the ticket for "no drivers license on person", the guy got paid for the damage to his car and my friend got out of the ticket because when he got the cop on the stand the cop admitted he had his license at the time.
I think you messed up admitting that you were turning, but I think you still have a chance of getting it reduced to a non moving violation.
I'll put it to you this way, I have four nonmoving violations on my record right now, all were moving violations that I either plea bargained with the DA
before going to court, or I plea bargained with the judge.
A lot of people will say you were in the wrong, and just pay the damn ticket. I'm in the mindset, that as long as you weren't driving under the influence or hurt somebody, that there's nothing wrong with trying to get out of a ticket.
It's the state's burden to prove guilt, and from what I could see, you were in the wrong technically, so you have your best chance plea bargining with the DA, then going to court.
Another thing to think about is
shared fault, even though you where in the wrong lane, it's his responsablity to make sure he has the right of way before moving.
The most common shared-fault/shared damages situations involve
vehicle accidents.
Go to the library and look at a book called "Black's Law Dictionary".
You have a lot or research to do young grasshopper.
Spice
