NJSP lied about brake light, possible racist profiling?

Hi, I'm a Maryland resident, at school in New York city. While driving home for the holidays I was stopped by a New Jersey State trooper and issued a ticket for having a brake light out. An hour later when i checked the light it was working properly, and it's been working fine since then, leading me to believe that that cop was a liar. Prior to being pulled over he tail-gated me for ten minutes.

The only reaons I can think for this are that he made a mistake, which seems unlikely, or that he was convinced I was an African-American because of my Al Sharpton for President bumper sticker, and decided to pull a little bit of the old racist profiling.

I've a scheduled a court date so that I can plead not-guility. Any suggestions as to how I should proceed? Should I bring up the racist profiling issue?

I realize hindsight is 20/20 but why not check the brake light with the cop there? Did he say to stay in the car? Maybe there is a video tape of the incident from his dash cam that you could request. If it shows the brake lights working there is your case.

If you truly believe you were the subject of racial profiling, then obtain an attorney to handle that matter and the violation for you. The court probably would not appreciate hearing the allegation of racial profiling from you.

Additionally, ever since the problems with the NJSP some years back, 95% of the fleet was equipped with video cameras that are not controlled by the officer. Hence there is a very good chance the entire stop was captured on tape.