yes that is also what i was going to write - the fact that a cop can pull you over, look under the hood and decide whether to write you a ticket, even though he probably does not have a very good knowledge of what is carb legal or not.
then, for the court to clear the ticket, it has to have passed the inspection of a state referee from the bureau of automotive repair. ask me how i know all this lol
so, sometimes having "a smog guy" is not enough.
if you do get a ref ticket you always have the option of just paying the $800? fine right? or so ive heard. which is great. they bust you for "polluting the air" but for $800 you can keep doing it.