Anyone Ticketed Due to Doctored/Phony Red Light Camera Photograph/Video? (My situation occurred in San Diego)?

In San Diego's Mission Valley area, I was driving south on Mission Center Road on a weekday mid-afternoon, when I entered the red light camera intersection at Camino Del Rio North. The light was YELLOW. My eye was on the light the entire time. I entered on a yellow, and it was not until I was HALFWAY through the intersection that it changed to red, and then the camera lights flashed.



Now I have a near $500 ticket, and a charge that the light was red to begin with. Moreover, one of the photographs with the ticket shows the light as red prior to my entering the intersection, and the video shows the same thing. BOTH ARE WRONG. They do NOT reflect what actually happened. Right after the cameras flashed, I took out a pad and pen, and at the next intersection (just seconds later) I wrote down what had happened. I did not wait to get the ticket to try to think back about the event.



We all know that the motivation for having these red light cameras is revenue. Cities like San Diego want to pull in money, period. (If installing cameras had anything to do with ensuring that people obey the law, then there would be cameras in the offices, boardrooms, and back alleys at every governmental unit in the country). Of course, people going through red lights can cause accidents, even fatal ones, and I am NOT in support of people doing that. But the fact is that my light was YELLOW, and, as I said, I had my eye on it the entire time.



Please spare me any lecturing on stopping at yellow lights. If safe to do so, I usually do. But in this case, even though I was not speeding, I made the split-second decision to pass through, and was able to do so safely. (Also, sudden breaking can cause rear-end collisions).



According to printed information from San Diego Police and City of San Diego Traffic Violations Bureau, %26quot;You will only receive a red light photo citation if you enter the intersection after the signal turns red. If you find yourself 'trapped' in the intersection while the signal turns from yellow to red, you will not get a citation%26quot;. Well, that may be how things are supposed to work. But it is NOT what happened in my case.



Can photographs and video, even for something like this, be doctored? Of course. It is very easy for even amateurs to do. Does the city (San Diego) and/or the company (American Traffic Solutions) that owns these cameras have motive to do something fishy? Of course. Even if the company receives a flat rate for these ticket systems, it still wants its client (City of San Diego) to profit, and the City obviously wants to profit by extorting from drivers. The City counts on people being intimidated by the threatening nature of the documentation that it sends to an accused driver. Most drivers probably just pay the ticket fee.



So I am wondering if anybody has had a similar problem of a ticket issued by a red light camera when entering on a yellow light. (Even other red light camera experiences may be informative). I would appreciate any relevant information that you can offer.



Also, if anyone (especially in San Diego) has gone to court to fight such a ticket, what should I expect when I do so? Should I anticipate that someone from the City will be sent to represent its side? Are judges for this kind of thing willing to budge? Or do they just accept whatever the city/police/photographs/video say?



My chance to win this may be slim. But I refuse to give in without fighting it. If everyone fought these phony camera systems, the abuses of innocent drivers might cease. I have not had a moving violation in more than 12 years, and then it was for a burnt out tail light. Otherwise, my record is clean. This has been a very stressful situation to be in. Any helpful information will be appreciated. Please, SERIOUS replies only.Anyone Ticketed Due to Doctored/Phony Red Light Camera Photograph/Video? (My situation occurred in San Diego)?
My Brother was and cost us loads with the court to get him prooven innocent..

The Firm(Remains nameless for obvious reasons)was fined 5000 bucks and closed down..