Right Turn On Amber > Fail To Stop @ Red & Disobey Sign
Hi everyone! I was hoping for a little advice as to how to proceed. I've never gotten a traffic ticket before, and on my first offense I received two. The first was Failed to Stop at a Red Light [Section 114(18)] and the 2nd was that I disobeyed a sign [Section 182(2)].
I was getting off the 403 Westbound @ Upper Middle in the Halton region on Jan 15th. The ramp splits into three lanes; one left, two rights. It is a T-intersection, with a sign that says no right turn on red next to the light. (Google Streetview of the intersection.)
It was late at night and it was a darker section of road. The sky was slightly overcast, but the weather was clear and everything distinct. I was in the middle lane, ready to take the outer right turn, but I was following a minivan that was filled with large objects in the back, it was going much slower than I was. The green was an old one. I made a lane change to the rightmost lane when it changed to an amber. I was still going pretty fast and I made the turn, it changed to red after I was in the intersection.
The officer made the turn after me and pulled me over. He told me that I'd gone through a red light, and thus disobeyed the sign. The total amount fined for was just under $450.
This happened a month ago. Two days after it happened, I went to the courthouse to fill in the forms stating my intention to go to court. I haven't heard anything back yet, but I wanted to know if there was anything I could do in the meantime. I have the impression that I can only request disclosure after I receive a trial date in the mail; is this true? Furthermore, I wondered if anyone else on here had similar experiences or ideas how I should build my defense. I checked immediately after I got home, but there are no traffic cameras on that particular intersection. How do you think I can take this away from a he-said-she-said situation in court?
Thanks!