My question involves criminal law for the state of: California

Hi,
A few weeks ago some friends and I were drinking a bottle of hard alcohol at one of our apartments. We decided to leave and go to a friends house and bring the bottle with us. I am 22 so i figured it would be fine if i just carried the bottle with the cap on. I got stopped by a police officer who explained that the seal was broken so it was considered an open container despite the fact that i was just transporting a bottle and not drinking it in public. After reading through the city ordinance that I am being charged for I realized that it seems that the intent of the law was to keep people from drinking in public and not just transporting alcohol. My question is: if i went to court and argued that i was not drinking but just transporting a bottle with the cap on but seal broken is there anyway i would be able to possibly get the charges dropped or at least get some leniency? This is my first ticket ever and I am a college student and this ticket is going to cost me $200 which is 10% of what in my bank for the rest of the semester so i really need to figure something out.

Also will a city ordinance violation show up in criminal background checks by employers?

Thanks in advance for any help.