Defenses to IL town overweight ticket

My part time driver was stopped on the entrance to the interstate, by village police which had this entrance on its very edge of its territory. They found him to be overweight on the rear axles by 5,000 lbs and gave him a ticket for $2,100.

I will, of course, pay whatever ends up to be the fine, but I would prefer to win and to not pay.

Even the cop said that on the day of trial, they would try to negotiate.

My prior experience with another $2,500 overweight ticket was that it was simply dismissed when we showed up in court. I did not even understand why it was dismissed. I want to fight this ticket also. I talked to a few attorneys, but my impression from them was that they did not care about me, only wanted to charge me $350 for showing up and "negotiating". Well even I can show up and "negotiate". What I want is to win or, at least, convince the prosecutor to settle for a low amount.

So... what are the legal defenses to the overweight charge? Something that would make the ticket invalid. Say, the officer lacked qualifications, or the scale was not in working order, lack of jurisdiction, what else could it be? Can we request a copy of the scale ticket prior to court to try to see if it is somehow deficient?

Finally, what are good mitigating circumstances that a court would accept if he is found guilty, to reduce the fine?

How can I request documentation from the prosecution to see what is the evidence against me?

Please, if you just have an opinion about the state of affairs in this country, spoiled youth, liberals, social justice, or some such, but not about overweight tickets, I am asking you to refrain from posting general opinions. I want to know how I can fight an overweight ticket.

We moved the court date to August to have more time to prepare.

 

It happened in the village of Elmhurst. I would like to request the scale ticket and see if I can find any deficiencies or discrepancies or other defenses. Do I ask the court for that or the municipality?

 

I am not sure if "I was going to the nearest scale" is a defense to an overweight ticket. Some people told me that it is not. I would love it if I could use it as a defense. Can you clarify?