I am a resident of Columbia, Mo., and I took off work to drive down to plead my case. When I arrived the judge did everything he could to talk me into pleading guilty. I did not and instead of listening to my case then, he set a trial date which meant I had to drive down again.

When I arrived yesterday (Tuesday) at the courthouse, Judge Craig Hellmann once again tried to talk me and other red light camera defendants out of pleading our cases. I pled not guilty again and waited two hours, until the very end of the other trials of assaults, not obeying an officer and a dog leash law. When my time finally arrived we watched the video and the video clearly showed three seconds of yellow when the MoDOT standard is four seconds. They pointed out that there was a number 4 in the corner of the screenshot and that was it. I also argued that running a red light is being charged as a "non-moving" violation, and that there is no proof of driver. After all of this which I do not think anyone was listening to or cared to listen to, the judge said OK pay the ticket or take it to the next level of trial. After all this I will be paying the $97 "parking ticket" as they call it and move on.

My point to all this is that I am planning a wedding in your area July 31, 2010, and my fiancee and I were planning on having the wedding in Washington city limits and spending money on decorations, tuxedos, flowers, a dance hall and much more in the city of Washington. After this joke of a trial, and joke of a court system, I will be moving the wedding out of Washington and will not be spending a penny in the city. Thank you for your time. I think the businesses in Washington should know what their city has cost them.