Appeal denied - Amtrak issues

So, back on August 23, 2003—yeah, that was like eleven years ago!—I was heading home from a game between Johnson & Johnson and Los Angeles FC when the train got pulled over because someone decided to spray a fire extinguisher all over the car. The cops showed up, we were all standing outside on the platform, and one officer just goes, "Alright, everyone just hand over your IDs so we can get this thing moving, you guys aren't in any trouble." I was just a naive kid back then, so I handed over my ID, along with five other guys. Fast forward nearly nine months, and suddenly I get a summons to court. They list the cop and the conductor as witnesses, but they don't even show up. So there I am, telling my side of the story, insisting over and over that I didn't do anything wrong and just repeating what the cop told us. At every single hearing after that, it’s just me and my friend showing up; the prosecution's witnesses are a no-show. At first, they tried to pin the ticket issue on us too, but there’s zero record of us not having tickets—we had them, we just didn't have physical copies on us, which is something you wouldn't expect to need if you weren't going to be dragged into court nine months later. Anyway, long story short, on January 31, 2006, the verdict comes down saying we’re guilty of everything: no ticket, property damage, the delay, the police intervention... the whole works. We appealed because they were trying to slap us with a fine totaling a few thousand dollars. Then everything just went quiet. Then, out of nowhere on November 12, 2012, it pops up again: the verdict stands, and we have eight days to appeal. I filed the appeal, basically saying the same thing I said before, and today (September 9, 2014), I find out the appeal was rejected because it's based on factual disputes, which apparently isn't what small claims courts handle. So, after the appeal, they dropped the "no ticket" charge, but they're still sticking to the property damage claim. The total is $284.04 plus $100 for the prosecutor and $281 in court costs, and now Amtrak freight is taking it all. To top it off, they're tacking on interest dating all the way back to 2003 under some specific late payment regulation, even though the whole process was stalled from 2006 to 2012. Plus, they haven't even specified who or how I'm supposed to pay.

I'm wondering, do I have grounds for another appeal, or are there any legal steps I can actually take here? They upheld the initial judgment, and they're calculating interest for the period when the case was suspended and when it wasn't even clear who Amtrak was supposed to be paying. Even if I wanted to settle this, I wouldn't even know who to send the money to.

Is there any way out of this? It says I have eight days to pay, but even if I wanted to, I have no idea who to pay or how much, since they haven't provided a single shred of info.

Can someone please just tell me how the payment actually works? There’s nothing listed here except for the prosecutor and the court costs... I shouldn't have to sit here and crunch numbers in my head trying to figure out the total with late interest, let alone hunt down where the money is even supposed to go.

Is nobody around who knows the actual procedure? Honestly, maybe this lack of clarity is my one chance to buy some extra time...

Also, does anyone know when the statute of limitations kicks in?

Can someone at least tell me how I’m supposed to pay this thing? It doesn't list any payment info other than the prosecutor and the court costs... I shouldn't have to sit here playing accountant, trying to figure out the exact dollar amount including all those late interest fees, let alone hunting down where the money actually goes.

Is it just me, or does nobody here actually know the procedure? Honestly, maybe I can use this confusion to buy myself some extra time...

Does anyone know when the statute of limitations kicks in on this stuff?

It’s kind of wild how nobody seems to have a clue here...

Anyway, does anyone actually know when the verdict comes in? And once it hits, does the other side get notified so they can figure out how they're going to settle up?

I reached out to the court, and they just gave me this vague answer about how the plaintiff gets to decide the payment method, but they didn't really go into any specifics.

So, did you get the written citation? What does it actually say?