i dont understand.... please help, i think i have a problem :/ Options

[bslik]

ok so on this past friday night, me and my friend were driving and got lost in a strange neighborhood thinking i could cut through to the next major road. when i hit a dead end, i was in the parking lot of some club house or community center so i parked up and turned off the car while i called my friend that lives around there. the next thing i know, a sherrif dept vehicle is shining the spot light in my eyes and telling me to keep my hands where he can see em.

so he tells me and my friend to get out of the car, checks us for drugs and weapons then without asking he checks my car.
me knowing that i dont have any drugs or weapons, i didnt try to stop him. he said we were suspiciously in a neighborhood that has been having many burgularies so he had to check us. so he goes though my car and doesnt find anything... then he goes back after a minute and looks in my car again and pulls out my knife that i had been using at work for cutting, stripping and splicing wires (installing lights and eletrical devices). AND APPARENTLY, THATS A CONCEALED WEAPON!

so im thinking, "ok hes gonna take me down to the precinct and issue my arrest and whatever how that works"

but no, he writes me a ticket for it. not a ticket that i have to pay, a ticket for me to appear in court!

ok so the question is, does anyone know whats the reason i have to go to court for this? why cant i just pay or do community service or something? and also should i contact a lawyer?

im so lost.

[CAMAricer]

When will people realize that just because you don't have anything to hide DOESN'T mean you should let a police officer search your car? I know it's a bit intimidating when a cop asks if you have anything to hide and if you're okay of they take a look at the inside of your car. But they can only search if they have probable cause, and in this case, they didn't. You were just sitting there not doing anything, so they had ZERO reason to search you car.

I hear a lot of stories about people getting pulled over, and saying the same "I don't have anything to hide, so go ahead and search my car" line only to have it backfire on them. Cops will find some little itty-bitty stupid reason to cite you a ticket (intake, header, box cutter in the trunk, empty beer cans, etc).

Again, if they don't have a reason to search your car DON'T let them search you car!