Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Plead not guilty and tell the court that you were picking up Grandma at that location the following morning.

I misread the question. I thought your Grandma lived near a bar. Plead not guilty and say nothing. Maybe the cop won't show up.

And if you do say something, tell the truth.

I can't agree with Mr. Stone, since the facts you provided do not support his statement. Unless you really had parked the car overnight and were going to pick your grandmother up the next morning at that location before driving away, saying so to the court would be perjury -- a vastly more serious offense than illegally parking in a handicap space. Mr. Stone must have misread your question, since he would not recommend that you lie to the court in order to get out of a ticket.

You can plead guilty and make the officer prove his case, but you should expect to lose. After all, you appear to be guilty. What matters is whether you used the placard when no handicapped person was actually going to benefit from its use. Whether you knew you were breaking the law is irrelevant.

I recommend, though, that you check the date on your ticket. Monday, July 5 is a court holiday. If you go to court that morning, you will find the building locked.

I'm glad to see that Mr. Stone corrected his error. I had not seen his second or third answers when I posted mine, but I know enough about him that I was confident he would not have knowingly advised you to mislead the court.