This sucks, Scott.
If it was near where you live, your court experience will probably be a lot like my two (:roll:) in Williamsport.
Which magisterial district, out of curiosity?
At least with District Justice Sortman, the courtroom only has three people in it: you, the judge, and the officer/trooper. The cop acts as the prosecutor.
If you want to plea bargain, the way I'd do it (assuming the court you're at works like Sortman's) would be to show up about twenty minutes early and catch the cop on his way in. Greet him friendlily (he's likely to be friendly as well) and ask if you might work something out where you plead guilty to a lesser charge. He'll probably ask what you had in mind, so have an offer prepared even if you think it's not going to happen. He may have limits on what he's permitted to do, but chances are he'd like the chance to get out of court early and not have to fight you.
I called several traffic attorneys in Lycoming county when I was dealing with one of my tickets, including the one Matt referred me to. They all wanted hundreds of dollars just to plea bargain on my behalf; none of them seemed at all willing to actually try to fight the case. I think it's dumb to spend hundreds of dollars to have a lawyer plea bargain on your behalf in this case; just clean yourself up nicely, wear a tie, and be friendly and straightforward.
Like Brat4by4 says, you don't need to specify grounds when you plead not guilty. Realize that a plea of "not guilty" is not a claim to innocence; it's just a challenge to the prosecution's evidence. You can never be forced to say whether you are guilty or not; the 5th amendment gives you the right not to incriminate yourself.
Also, I believe that in Pennsylvania, a "not guilty" plea is the only way to get a trial for a speeding citation.
Even if you plan to plea bargain, you should still do a little research in case you actually want to or have to fight the charge in court. Check out what kind of radar unit he was using, and see if the manufacturer can get you some specs (if it turns out to be a Decatur Genesis Handheld unit, I have some literature from Decatur I could send you). Read the specific section of the vehicle code that you were cited for violating. Read the portion of the code that specifies when you can and can't be cited.
This is a good resource:
http://members.aol.com/StatutesPA/Index.html. Especially pay attention to this page:
http://members.aol.com/StatutesP1/75PA3368.html.
The statement that a lot of tickets get thrown out when contested is less true than it used to be. These days in most jurisdictions cops have special days set aside every few weeks for them to be in court, so they're pretty likely to show up. Some places even give them bonus pay. Even when you get a continuance, the court usually checks with the police department to find a day when the cop will be there. I'm not trying to jinx you; I'm just telling you what I know.
My suggestion is to do a little research about it, and then either prepare to fight it, or simultaneously prepare to plea bargain and prepare to fight if you have to. If you need more time to figure this stuff out, write a letter to the court requesting a continuance. Reasons I've used in the past when requesting continuances include needing to be at school to teach, being out of town for the holidays, and having to give a presentation in a class I was taking.
(I am not a lawyer, and the above is not necessarily good legal advice; it is just my opinion based on my experience.)
Keep us posted...
"Just reading vrg3's convoluted, information-packed posts made me feel better all over again." -- subyluvr2212
I was doing 62 in a 45. Here's the thing, I heard through someone else (retired statey) that if there's a zone where there's a reduced speed zone and then an increase after that zone that the reduced speed zone has to be 1 mi long to pop speeders for going over the reduced speed limit. I went back to the place I was popped and found that the reduced zone was only .7 mi long. It goes from a 55 to a 45 and then back to a 55. I was speeding up to get into traffic when I was popped in a speed trap on memorial day. I even saw the cops there but I thought it had turned back to a 55. Anybody have any experience with this out there? I plan on pleading not guilty. The sad thing was that my license had expired a week prior to that 
so I got fined for that too. 
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