What's the best way to get the Magistrate to take it easy on me?

This pertains to my 22 year old son. He was pulled over last night and got an open intoxicant ticket. He was not drinking and offered to take a breathalyzer, the officer refused. My son plans to plead with the Magistrate to take it easy on him. His stance is that he was doing nothing wrong to get pulled over in the first place. My thought is, if you want any chance of leniency, you should be humble and apologize, "I'll never let this happen again, sir", kinda thing, Which is the better/more successful approach?