My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: California
About a month ago, I was stuck at a traffic signal which wasn't cycling properly. I was waiting to make a left turn, and after the signal went through two cycles without my turn getting a green, I waited for traffic to clear and safely proceeded with my left turn on the red. The reason I chose to not make a lane change and go straight was because there was a solid white line to my right, I was at the limit line, there were cars behind me and the speed limit on the road going straight was 40 or 45 MPH (meaning that cars could come up quickly from behind me - and I'd have to rely on my mirror for my safety rather than looking straight ahead at oncoming traffic).
I received a red light ticket in the mail for this and am wondering what I should do. Is the situation as I've described sufficient for the judge to let it go? Is there a precedent with respect to malfunctioning stop lights? Perhaps a guideline as to what one should do if caught in this situation?

