My question involves a speeding ticket from the State of: South Dakota
I received a $150 ticket for 77 in a 55 zone. I was talking to my wife and not paying attention when the speed limit dropped to 55 in a highway construction zone; luckily, there were no workers around, and the zone wasn't marked as a "double fine" zone. I'm more concerned about the effect on my insurance, so I went to the courthouse on my assigned day. This was my first time in court and I was pretty happy because the trooper wasn't there--then I found out this was just the initial hearing for my plea entry. I pleaded not guilty, and I have a trial date in three weeks (the judge said the trooper will appear for the trial). I have the following questions:
1. My ticket didn’t specify how my speed was determined--the officer didn’t say when he wrote the ticket and I didn’t think to ask. How can I find out whether it was radar, pacing, etc?
(In SD, the officer has you sit in his car while he writes the ticket. I didn’t notice a radar gun in the patrol car, but I didn’t look for it. I did notice a dashboard bracket, probably for a traffic camera that wasn’t installed.)
2 What’s the worst case outcome of a traffic trial? Having to pay the fine plus court costs?

