Legal Question in Traffic Law in California

Is it legal for a police officer in his squad car to hide behind bushes with his lights completely off?

I got ticketed for making an illegal left turn out of a shopping center at midnight. The sign shows no left turns because in the day, that particular street is extremely busy and congested, so trying to make a left turn out of that parking lot would definitely cause traffic and gridlock. Being that it was midnight and my city is a really small, quiet one, I waited for the only car on the road to pass before I made the turn.

There was a cop waiting across the street in the parking lot of a bank. He was parked behind the bushes, under a tree, with his lights off. He was pretty much invisible because the lighting in the bank's parking lot was dim and low. The moment I turned out onto the street, he turned all his lights and pulled me over. People are telling me to fight it arguing it's illegal for the police cars to hide and that they must have at least their parking lights on, which was not the case here.

I really just want to ask for a reduction in the fee because, even though I was doing something illegal, it was actually completely safe. I'm wondering how much of a chance I have in fighting this, should I choose to.

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