Received a Modified Exhaust ticket in CA, Car is out of state

Hi there,

I was driving this weekend alone in Malibu, California to pass the time during the coronavirus crisis. I got pulled over and cited for Modified Exhaust (27150, 27151). The officer pulled me over for an out of state plate (see below), but once I explained my situation, he scrambled for something to cite me on and landed on the exhaust.

I am not a resident of CA (here for school, no address or any bills sent here to CA, impossible to prove residency), and my car is registered in my home state of SC where there are no modified exhaust laws or even inspection. This is legitimate, I've gotten cited for out of state plate before and fought it and won.

My exhaust is aftermarket, but it is a very tame unit. It's only marginally louder than stock. Still has 3 mufflers and catalytic converters. It would easily pass the state-mandated 95db limit. The fee to get it inspected and sound tested is $108 which is absolutely absurd. I'd like to simply get this ticket dismissed in court and am looking for the best way to do so.

I have a few things going towards me in my argument:

1. the officer never actually heard my exhaust, I was in neutral coasting down a hill towards a stop sign when he pulled me over at the stop sign. He only ever heard my idle.

2. the officer did not use a sound meter to verify the volume of the exhaust rose over the legal limit

3. I am not from CA, nor is the car registered in CA so it's absurd for me to be expected to remove the exhaust and swap it back out when I cross state borders. (would you expect someone from a state with no front plates to magically create a front plate when driving into a state with front plates?). SC has no exhaust laws at all (other than the vehicle needs to have some sort of a muffler), and my car is 100% legal in the state it resides in.

4. officer misspelt my name, and got my age wrong