Improper Left Turn Ticket AFTER Officer Waved Me Down Through The Illegal Turn

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whitgrace

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It was about 1 in the morning on May 8th, 2005, and me and three of my friends were trying to meet up with some other friends and got lost in the opposite direction. We are from Holland, MI and our friends are from the Kentwood area. We ended up on the oppostite side of where we were supposed to be which was near Wilson Ave and Lake Michigan Drive in Walker, MI. Our friends told us to meet them at Walgreens but we went to the wrong one. We saw a Walgreens and at the time we thought we were at the right one. So I turned my left turn signal on and pulled in to what I thought was a left turn lane to pull in to the Meijer/Walgreen's parking lots. At the same time, we saw 2 police cars on the left side of the road that had either pulled over a car or were searching one that was abandoned. But anyway, right before I actually started to turn, I saw the 'no left turn sign'across the street with a police officer standing next to it. So I didn't turn left, and right before I was about to pull to my right, back in to traffic, in the same instant the officer next to the sign began to shine me down with his flash light, pointing it at me, the sign, and then for me to turn (through the illegal left turn) and pull over. I didn't think anything of it becuase I hadn't done anything wrong, so I wasn't flustered or upset or anything. We pulled over just thinking he was going to ask us a question or something, you know, no big deal, but right away he walked up to me and said said "hi can i see your license and registration please", so i said sure, gave him my license and accidently gave him my proof of insurance (which he didn't ask for) instead of registration. immediatly after he said, "Whitney, have you had anything to drink tonight?". I was really surprised that he said that because it was 100% innapropriate i thought, seeing as though neither me or my friends had anything to drink, maybe because we're all 16 and 17, and so he had no reason to ask that. I tried not to make anything of it, so I responded with no, apologized about the mix up and gave him the registration. He walked away and a few minutes later came back with a ticket. WOW?! Wasn't expecting that!!!! "Alright Whitney, I'm going to give you a ticket for making an illegal left turn, you have 10 days to contact this court" and that was all he said. I love to argue, but I knew that would probably get me in to more trouble so I didn't. So later when we were looking at the ticket, we couldn't make out anything that the officer had written, and we also realized that he didn't write on the ticket how much my fee was. So here are my concerns:
1) Does it make a difference if I can't read the ticket because the officer wrote it really sloppy?
2) How much will this ticket cost? Should he have written it on the ticket?
3) SHOULD I HAVE EVEN GOTTEN A TICKET SINCE I WASN"T GOING TO MAKE THE TURN BUT THE OFFICER MADE ME AND THEN GAVE THE TICKET???
4) Was it appropriate that he asked if we were drinking? Can I use that to fight?
5) He didn't ask for proof of insurance, does that matter?
6) Is there a way that I can fight the ticket without having to get my parents involved? Maybe by taking my 21 year old brother, or 25 year old sister to court with me instead? Do I even need to take anyone with me?
7) If the officer already had someone pulled over, or was dealing with another situation, should he have left it and pulled me over??
8) Is there anything else wrong with this situation? ANYTHING? On my behalf or the officers???
I have a ton of questions, but if any one can help me out with these that would be great!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh P.S. I have to have this whole thing settled within ten days...so my deadline is MAY 18th 2005!!!!!!!
 
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