My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: Washington
I was driving down the road when an officer raced in behind me and pulled me over. The officer was in a very bad mood and was obviously upset with me. He asked me if I knew why he stopped me and I said no. I do not know where he was sitting when he supposedly saw me as I never saw him. He took my information back to his car and several minutes later came back with a ticket. He tossed the ticket and my information in to my lap and rudely asked if I had any questions. I said no and he turned and walked away without saying anything else.
At first I expected to see a speeding ticket as he said I was speeding but the ticket was for "46.61.200 FAIL TO STOP AT STOP SIGN."
I have contested the ticket as I am convinced he mistook my car for someone else for several reasons. So long story short my defense was going to be mistaken identity. After googling the RCW though, it seems to be specifically for stop signs and the intersection in question has a traffic signal. RCW 46.61.200 is "Stop intersections other than arterial may be designated." The text of the code talks about "posted and maintained proper signs of the standard design adopted by the state department of transportation" and "and bearing the required sign" but does not talk about traffic signals at all. It seems traffic signals are in a completely different section. As the intersection he wrote on the ticket clearly has a traffic signal and not a stop sign, I wonder if that is a better defense than the mistaken identity.
When I was stopped I was on my way home from work. No where between my job and where I was stopped are there any stop signs. They are all traffic signals. If it turns out RCW 46.61.200 has no application with traffic signals I intend to bring photos of the intersection to court. I do not have the officer's statement as I am sending that letter today. Is there anything else I should ask for?
So if I do use that as my defense, will the judge just say "Well it is obvious the officer meant to say traffic signal and just made a simple mistake" or something to that effect? Or can RCW 46.61.200 also be applied to a traffic signal? Would I be better off sticking with my mistaken identity as he stopped me over a mile from this intersection in heavy traffic and probably just confused my car with someone else?
Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions with this.

