Mirror, mirror

When you look in the mirror, what do you see?  Do you see yourself as you see yourself; do you see yourself as everyone else sees you; or do you see yourself as you want everyone to see you?  

Such was the thoughts that were going through my mind as I was talking with a young-ish couple standing in front of my reference desk a while back. 

Seems guy and gal had been out one night drinking like fish. Seems guy decided that, despite the fact that he had had a number of shots of something not 30 minutes prior, he was a capable driver.  Seems 20 minutes into their drive home, guy ran a red light, T-boned an SUV, and killed one of the passengers.

They tell me that shortly before the police showed up on the scene, guy smoothed talked gal to get in the driver's seat because guy's license had been suspended.  With gal in driver's seat and his version of events firmly implanted in gal's mind, the police charged her with vehicular manslaughter. On retrospect gal is now not so happy with her decision and wants to set things right (tell the truth of what happened). Guy is not so much in a forthcoming state of mind and right in front of me they are softly arguing what to do.

For the record, I am not an attorney and as such I was unable to give guy and gal the legal absolution he were so desperately seeking.  I'm also a neutral bystander in all this and sit quietly as they go back and forth.  When I could, I suggested they contact their local bar association and seek an attorney referral for a criminal attorney.

I also suggested they take a look at Martindale.com to look for an attorney specializing in criminal law.  A peer-reviewed website (meaning only the best of the best attorneys are listed (or are allowed to be listed)), Martindale.com lets users search for lawyers using personal names, firm names, or just search for practice areas (such as, as in this case, criminal law) in their state of residence. So, off they go in pursuit of representation to help guy convince gal that his way is better (with her taking the rap).

If you are ever in peril and have need of a soft shoulder on which to cry or just need some killer reference assistance, know that your local county Librarian often has both and is at your local county law library waiting to help you get you where you need to be.