I completely disagree with some of the opinions stated above. With all due respect, I fight every ticket I receive and have yet to lose a single one that I have taken to court. My experience has been that 50% of the time the cop does not show and the ticket is dismissed. The other 50% of the time I have merely told my side of the story in a pleasent, respectful manner, never complaining about the cop or insinuating that they did their job wrong in any way.
90% of what matters in court is your attitude IMHO. Come to court dressed professionally, without a bad attitude or anger and state that you were driving at a speed that you felt was reasonable and prudent for the existing traffic and weather conditions.
I've been fighting tickets in this manner for the past 5 years or so (before I just did the pay and traffic school thing) and have gotten out of 4-5 tickets in this manner. Your main problem in your situation is that you argued with the LEO and she is therefore more likely to take the time out of her schedule to show up to court and you can bet that she will remember you and your situation. I try to be as polite and forgettable as possible. I've had LEOs show up to court and not remember me at all and only be able to go off of the information on the ticket they wrote.
My long-winded .02...
