Stephen Francis Krzyston

I joined Cavanaugh & Thickens, LLC, in 2019. Prior to joining Cavanaugh & Thickens, LLC, I worked for over 6 years with the Fifth Circuit Public Defender in Columbia, South Carolina. At the public defender, I focused on defending individuals charged with serious and most serious violent crimes. During the past 6 years, I have successfully defended every type of crime on the books, including Murder and Felony DUI involving Death. I have also successfully tried many criminal cases to verdict and am licensed to provide first-chair defense representation in death penalty cases.

During my tenure as a public defender, I was selected to attend the National Forensic College. This College is an invitation-only program designed to instruct supervisors, trainers, and experienced litigators who will become forensic science experts in their jurisdictions. The College is hosted on an annual basis by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Cardoza School of Law in Manhattan, New York.

Additionally, I was selected to attend the Trial Practice Institute at the National Criminal Defense College (NCDC). The Trial Practice Institute is the preeminent hands-on trial skills training program in the United States. The Institute lasts two weeks and is held annually in July. I also completed John E. Reid & Associates advanced interview and interrogation course. The course is devoted to providing advanced instruction on the Reid Technique. The Reid Technique is a controversial set of tactics that are widely used by law enforcement agencies when attempting to extract confessions from suspects and persons of interest.

I was raised in Orangeburg, South Carolina. I received my undergraduate degree from the College of Charleston in 2009, and my law degree from the Charleston School of Law in 2012. During law school, I worked in a plaintiff’s firm which focused on personal injury and disability claims, the Capital Trial Division of the Commission on Indigent Defense, and the Ninth Circuit Public Defender in Charleston County.