Asked 8/9/2016 – Plano, TX

I live in an apartment/community where a parking permit (from the apartment leasing office) is required to park here, but a lot of cars that do not have the parking permit are always parked here.
(Some) Residents who arrive late/at night, and have a valid parking permit generally don’t find parking space.

I arrived one night with my wife and infant son, only to find that there wasn’t any spot to park our only/family car.
I was (compelled to) park in a handicapped spot – it was beyond midnight and I planned to move it 1st thing in the morning (at daybreak).
But at 5 a.m., an officer (apparently) too pictures of my car and placed a citation on my windshield.

I have photos from that night of cars parked (in the parking lot) without the parking permit.
The management says that they will ticket cars without the parking permit, but they (still) don’t do anything about such cars.

What can/should I do at the pretrial hearing?
Should I ask for a trial by jury (I hear that juries tend to side with the common man)?
Should I take the (apartment) management to court?

Answer

I understand your frustration, but what you describe is not a defense to the offense of parking in a handicapped spot. Defenses are: 1) you had a valid handicapped parking placard on the date and time in question, but it just was not visible at the time of the issuance of the citation; or, 2) you did not own the vehicle on the date of the citation. “There was nowhere else to park” is not a legal defense. Therefore, if you are adamant about a trial, then yes, you should have a jury trial and hope for sympathy. A Judge following the law will find you guilty.