Good luck Jerri … I still think if there aren’t cars parked there, you should just get some of your friends to follow you down another day and park there for 30 seconds while you snap a pic. A little subterfuge never hurt anyone. 
I went to court this morning for my ticket, so I thought I would post a follow up.
I did go back to the intersection where I got the ticket, but there was no one parked there at the time. (I may have been wrong initially, but I still think there was a delivery van parked in the area.) Shoulda rounded up my friends! - but, alas, I did not. I did take some photos on another street where people used the far lanes for parking, thinking maybe I could use those in my explaination.
After the prosecutor(?) called everyone’s name, she explained that you could plead guilty, not guilty or nolo contendere. She went on to elaborate on the nolo plea, saying you would still have the ticket on your record and be required to pay the fine, but you wouldn’t incur any points on your license. I decided to plead nolo, because I didn’t really want to take the chance on getting the points. I was still hoping the judge might lessen the fine a little.
Waiting for my turn, 2 other people were called up with the same ticket, given by the same officer, in the same area as my incident. One of these people plead “not guilty”. In this guy’s case, the officer testified, then the guy testified. He said there were cars parked in the lane, and therefor he could not get over to turn (same as my excuse). Not only did the judge find him guilty, but apparently he increased his fine to $125!!! :eek: Because when I went up and plead nolo, he granted it immediately and the fine was $101 (the original fine + court costs). And I am SURE it was the same offense, as the officer testified in detail as to what happened.
Anyway, after figuring out that the judge was probably not going to go easy on ANYONE, I decided to just not say anything and get it over with. I left with a much lighter wallet but at least it’s over with!
Hijacking my own thread: Why in the world was the guy who pleaded not guilty required to pay more than I was? Are the court costs higher if you plead not guilty? This guy was well dressed and respectful, although he was obviously not a native English speaker. I think it got on the judge’s nerves that the guy didn’t understand the “raise your right hand” process. I hope that’s not why his fine was higher 
I guess they could reason that it is more costly to the legal system in the case where the cop has to testify against a “not guiltly” plea. In the “no contest” case, he’s probably off drinking coffee somewhere and not receiving additional stick-it-to-the-minor-offender-instead-of-doing-something-to-benefit-society-in-general pay. Not that I’ve ever been to traffic court, mind you…