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A trial lawyer offering client-centered advocacy, Stephen Krzyston, a Columbia, South Carolina resident, has more than a decade of criminal litigation and case management experience. As an attorney with Cavanaugh & Thickens, Stephen Krzyston has experience representing clients in the courts in many areas, including cases concerning field sobriety testing.

Field Sobriety tests are a group of tests - the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, the walk-and-turn test to measure balance and coordination, and the one-leg stand test - that measure a driver’s coordination, balance, and ability to multitask to ascertain if they are intoxicated. The results of these tests can also be used as evidence in court. Although these tests may validate law enforcement’s suspicions of driver intoxication, individuals can still challenge the results in court.

In South Carolina, individuals can get help from experienced DUI (driving under the influence) defense lawyers if they feel the officer improperly administered the tests. For instance, if the arresting officer violated any NHTSA requirements for appropriate administration or failed to give adequate instructions, the defense attorney may challenge the court to invalidate the results.

A graduate of the Charleston School of Law, Stephen Krzyston is a seasoned attorney who joined Cavanaugh & Thickens in 2019. At the law firm, he represents individuals injured by other people's actions or negligence as well as those facing criminal charges. Stephen Krzyston is well-versed in the criminal law of South Carolina.

South Carolina's gun control laws (a category of the state's criminal law) proscribe machine guns, sawed-off rifles, sawed-off shotguns, Teflon-coated ammunition, and military firearms. Other firearms are permitted in the state. Dealers can sell or deliver other firearms, and this would be legal, although there are exceptions.

A member of the South Carolina Bar and the South Carolina Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Stephen Krzyston serves as an attorney with Cavanaugh & Thickens, where he manages all of the firm's criminal cases, from the point of client retention to resolution. He also represents clients in personal injury matters. Stephen Krzyston is well-versed in South Carolina law.

In South Carolina, some first-time offenders are eligible for a diversionary program called Pre-Trial Intervention (PTI), which diverts the offender from the conventional system of criminal proceedings. Through the state’s PTI program, many first-time offenders can avoid traditional prosecution and jail time. They can also retain their jobs and employment opportunities by avoiding acquiring a criminal record through the program. The prime purpose of the PTI program is rehabilitation, rather than discipline.

Stephen Krzyston is currently an attorney at Cavanaugh & Thickens Columbia, SC. He provides representation on criminal charges in the state and federal courts of South Carolina. Stephen Krzyston has substantial experience representing clients in the appellate court and is knowledgeable in examination-in-chief.

Examination-in-chief happens when a witness testifies orally in court during a trial or committal hearing. Examination-in-chief involves one party summoning the other party’s witness to elicit their testimony. Witnesses are subjected to cross-examination, during which the opposing side examines their testimony, following the examination-in-chief.

The rules of process and admissibility set out in the applicable state or territorial legislation apply to the examination-in-chief as they are to all evidence. Additionally, in order to encourage truthfulness, witnesses are to be sworn in before the court using an oath or affirmation.

A Columbia, South Carolina resident, Stephen Krzyston is a graduate of Charleston School of Law and holds a juris doctor. Stephen Krzyston serves as an attorney for Cavanaugh & Thickens, where he oversees personal injury cases.

Personal injury cases occur when a person is harmed or wronged due to another person's negligence or actions. After such a case, typically, the wrongdoer's insurance company will pay to cover the medical expenses of the harmed person or for other purposes. There are two ways in which these cases can occur, a formal lawsuit and an informal settlement.

In a formal lawsuit, the injured person hires an attorney to file a complaint against the wrongdoer in court. The injured party's lawyer then advances a case that demonstrates how the wrongdoer's acts or omissions caused the subject injuries. Ultimately, a jury is charged with considering whether the injured Plaintiff has proven that the Defendant wrongdoer is liable to him.

A graduate of the Charleston School of Law, Stephen Krzyston is an experienced lawyer currently practicing at Cavanaugh & Thickens. Mr. Krzyston has a significant amount of experience trying homicide cases with forensic evidence such as blood spatter and crime scene reconstruction.

Crime scene reconstruction has several steps that need to be followed when a person is searching for relevant clues of a crime. First, the person responsible for the reconstruction can search for a focal point and establish a long enough perimeter that can contain evidence. The chosen perimeter needs to be then secured and left untouched by all people that are not involved in the reconstruction as they can destroy the evidence or affect it and make it useless. After this, a person can establish the degree of the crime and what type it is, as well as make sure that nothing can interfere with the reconstruction such as weather or other elements.

A Columbia, South Carolina resident, Stephen Krzyston graduated from the Charleston School of Law, obtaining a juris doctor. Stephen Krzyston currently serves as an attorney at Cavanaugh & Thickens, where he provides defense for clients that face criminal charges.

When a person faces a criminal charge, they must find a lawyer and develop a criminal defense strategy that aims to challenge the validity of the prosecutor’s argument.

There are many defense strategies that lawyers can apply to defend a client, one of which is the defense of duress. Defense of duress involves the argument that the client did complete a criminal offense, but they did so because they were threatened by a third party who promised to hurt them or their family if they didn’t complete it.

An experienced trial attorney from South Carolina, Stephen Krzyston currently provides legal representation at Cavanaugh & Thickens. Stephen Krzyston provides representation on criminal charges and is familiar with crime scene investigation.

Fingertips are highly important in crime scenes as they can help authorities decide who committed a particular crime. Authorities can gather three types of fingertips at a crime scene: patent, latent, and plastic.

Latent fingertips are invisible to the naked eye and require additional processing to reveal to whom they belong. They consist of sweat and oil coating the owner's hand. They are also the most commonly encountered fingertips at a crime scene as they can be anywhere on a location, from computers and phones to lamps or chairs. Latent fingertips can be processed and made visible with powder or laser.

A graduate from Charleston School of Law, Stephen Krzyston serves as a criminal defense attorney with Cavanaugh & Thickens. With nearly ten years of experience in criminal litigation, Stephen Krzyston is experienced in challenging the admissibility of forensic evidence, including evidence derived from field sobriety tests.

Field sobriety tests are a group of tests used by law enforcement officers to ascertain whether a driver is intoxicated. With a 65-80 percent reliability, field sobriety tests assess a driver's coordination, balance, and ability to divide his attention between performing more than one task at a time. The results of field sobriety tests may be considered as evidence in criminal proceedings. The following are three standardized field sobriety tests:

1. The Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus Test (HGN)

Nystagmus is a term that refers to an involuntary jerking or bouncing of the eye. Where the driver is impaired, this condition becomes exaggerated. During the HGN test, the officer will ask the driver to follow a moving object, such as a pen or flashlight, slowly from side to side while he looks for signs that point to the impairment or intoxication of the driver.

2. Walk-and-Turn Test

In this test, the officer instructs the driver to walk nine steps heel-to-toe on a straight line, then turn on one foot and repeat the nine steps in the same manner. During the steps, the officer looks for various signs of impairment, including but not limited to a loss of balance and an inability to follow instructions.

3. One-Leg Stand Test

Stephen Krzyston is a criminal defense lawyer with over five years of experience in criminal litigation and case management. An attorney with Cavanaugh & Thickens, Stephen Krzyston is a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL).

NACDL is a membership organization that seeks to outline and reform defects in the criminal legal system, redress systematic racism, and equip its members with the necessary tools to serve all accused people. To this end, the NACDL established a fellowship to cater to students from underrepresented cultures.

Supported by the NACDL’s Foundation for Criminal Justice, the diversity law fellowship program is available to law students in their first and second years in good academic standing who come from historically underrepresented backgrounds and are enrolled in an American Bar Association accredited school.

The Diversity Law Fellowship is designed to provide law students from underrepresented backgrounds with first-hand experience in criminal defense practice. The eight-week mentorship program involves pairing students with experienced and established criminal defense attorneys.