Traffic Citation/Trial Question

I was recently given a citation for a non-moving violation, PA 75 3701 A, Stand Unattended, while delivering for a restaurant. While I had never heard of this law (ignorance is not an excuse) or its enforcement, I decided to take it to trial in hopes that the judge would cut me a break since the ticket would cost me more than a nights pay (even though the fine is only $5 it totals to $90 something). And since I have a perfectly clean driving record. Two hours prior to the trial date I received a phone call saying that the officer had just called and been granted an 'emergency continuance' based on the grounds of a death in the family. On a hunch I called the borough that day to try and get in touch with the officer and actually had a short conversation with him as he worked his shift (which began a few hours after the trial time). To me, an officer showing up to court as a witness/plaintiff is part of his daily duties, and if he needs to miss said duties for a death in the family it seems odd that he can make his shift just a few short hours later, actually shrugging off my condolences at the start of the conversation with him. Which brings me to my question for you all, since this will be my first trial and I am very inexperienced.

Is the fact that he was at his regular shift mere hours later proof enough that his request for an emergency continuation due to a death in the family was falsified? Would I not have to actually find out who supposedly "died" and then prove they didn't, to prove this? His duty to appear as a witness is part of his regular job. If he did not appear, can I ask the court why and tell it he was working later that day?

My question is, is there any precedent to using this to get a case thrown out, or to bring into question the integrity/believability of the officer? If so how exactly do I go about bringing it up at the trial? And finally, am I better off going in with my original plan of admitting guilt and asking for leniency based on the fact that I was working, had secured my car (locked it), and have a clean driving record, or using this approach instead?

Thank you for any advice in advance.

You won't get anywhere arguing about the phone call you received. Hopefully you weren't duped out of appearing in court when you should have been there.
You will be better off not to bring up the continuance. Just plead your case.

The phone call was from the district magistrates office, I actually called back to the office itself and did not take the call just to be sure.

How do you propose to prove that the officer did NOT have some kind of emergency to deal with? It may not have been a close relative, or it may have been a relative of a spouse and wsa something he had to address before his shift. Who knows?

Unless the court is interested in looking into the matter, researching this will cost a lot of money for a private investigator in the hopes of casting some doubt on his truthfulness. Granted, if you can prove that he lied to the court, he'd be screwed (now and forever). It might be worthwhile reporting this to the agency, however. As THEY can look into the matter. I know that most agencies would be incredibly interested if their officers were engaged in acts of untruthfulness - particularly with the court!

He could have gone to a funeral that was held during the trial time, but was over when it was time for his shift.

Yes he could have gone to a funeral but the exact reason for his "emergency continuation". Was A death in the family, not a funeral I just found out about that's in 2 hours.

"How do you propose to prove that the officer did NOT have some kind of emergency to deal with? It may not have been a close relative, or it may have been a relative of a spouse and wsa something he had to address before his shift. Who knows?"

To best answer your question, the paper I received from the Magisterial Judge on continuations says as follows:

"Continuance request must be made no less than seven business days before scheduled trial or hearing. No continuance will be granted if the request is not made within the time fram except in an EXTREME case and with approval of the District Justice. EXTREME cases are those that involve the death of an >>immediate<< family member or a serious illness."

Therefore it had to have been a close relative for him to call in an emergency continuation a mere 2 hours before the trial. From what I've seen the best avenue would be to try and initiate a review from the police agency itself by filing a complaint as it will be difficult to prove anything in court. I personally find it hard to believe if it was the death of an immediate family member, as the sheet says is a requirement for an emergency continuation, that he would have been perfectly fine working his shift that began 3 hours after the trial time.

Then make the personnel complaint. However, you will likely still have to deal with the citation prior to the agency completing its review.

Oh that im sure of, was just making sure what the best avenue would be.