Guy Cardamone is a Supervisory Associate Federal Defender with the Federal Defender Service of Western Wisconsin. He was previously the training director with the Wisconsin State Public Defender. Over his career in both Wisconsin and Miami, Florida, he has defended the indigent accused of all levels of crimes, from homicide to simple battery. Guy has also taught criminal defense and trial skills nationwide as a faculty member of the Wisconsin, Kentucky, and New Jersey Trial Skills programs, and has presented for NACDL, OACDL, and the Wisconsin Public Defender. His multidisciplinary approach to criminal defense practice includes education, sales, psychology, and literary and film studies.

Jeff Chapdelaine, JD, LICSW is an Attorney, Forensic Social Worker, and Forensic Drama Therapist based in Boston Massachusetts.  He represents clients in both criminal and plaintiff’s civil cases. He consults nationally on plaintiff’s civil cases and on cases where people are accused of committing crime, working with lawyers and on trial strategy, jury selection and trauma informed client focused case preparation.  His consulting company trains both lawyers and mental health professionals on areas where legal systems and mental health systems intersect.

He serves on the Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) Criminal Curriculum Advisory Committee and as faculty locally for MCLE and Committee for Public Counsel Service, and nationally for the National Criminal Defense College in Macon Georgia, the Trial Lawyers College in Dubois Wyoming, several state systems and at other training programs.

Kaushiki is a career defender in both the criminal legal and family regulation systems. She is the current Founding Executive Director of Carolina Parent Defenders, a legal nonprofit dedicated to the representation of parents in the family regulation system. Prior to moving back to North Carolina, she led the development of the criminal defense practice and then the family defense practice at Still She Rises, Tulsa. Before working in mission driven holistic organizations, Kaushiki developed and honed her trials skills as a deputy defender in Jefferson County, Golorado. Outside of the courtroom, Kaushiki’s advocacy is informed by and with working in tandem with community members, grassroots organizers, and student advocates on how to dismantle carceral systems and create spaces of community care. Kaushiki has been invited to lead training in client led representation, litigation skills, and developing holistic practices. Kaushiki received her Bachelor of Arts from The University of Texas at Austin and her Juris Doctorate from The University of Cincinnati College of Law. In her spare time, she enjoys practicing yoga, reading, and trying to perfect The Bear-inspired omelette.

Sam Dennis is the owner and founder of Sam D. Dennis, P.C. in Valdosta, Georgia, a law firm representing injured people and citizens under attack by their government.

Sam is a lifetime resident of Valdosta, attending St. John Catholic School and Lowndes County High School. Sam graduated from Valdosta State University with a BS in Criminal Justice and a Masters in Public Administration. He also studied at the world-renowned Magdalene College in Oxford, England. He received his JD from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Sam began practicing law in 1995 and founded his law practice in 2001. He has won hundreds of cases for his clients, earning a reputation as one of Georgia’s top lawyers. He is passionately committed to justice and public safety.

Sam served as the President of  the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (GACDL) for two consecutive years 2014 and 2015. He has served as the Vice President of the GACDL off and on for many years and he is a Life Member of the association. Sam is also a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) and Georgia Trial Lawyers Association (GTLA). Sam has served as former Chairman of the Judicial Council of Georgia, Board of Court Reporting. He is a board member of the Board of Directors for the Community Defender Organization for the Eleventh Circuit District Court.

In addition to teaching with the Bill Daniel Program since its creation, Sam has been a member of the National Criminal Defense College faculty since 1998 and has lectured and taught nationally and internationally on the topics of Cross Examination, Impeachment, Voir Dire, Opening Statements, Scientific Evidence,  Expert Testimony, and all aspects of trial advocacy.

Sam lives in Valdosta with his wife and four children. He is an avid hunter, angler, gun collector, and model airplane enthusiast. He is an active member at St. John’s Catholic Church.

John C. Ellis, Jr. is a National Coordinating Discovery Attorney for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Defender Services Office. In this capacity, he provides litigation support and e-discovery assistance on complex criminal cases to defense teams around the country. Before entering private practice, Mr. Ellis spent 13 years as a trial attorney and supervisory attorney with Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc. He also serves as a digital forensic consultant and expert.

A native of Decatur, Ga., W. Devin Franklin is Movement Policy Counsel at the Southern Center for Human Rights. His present work focuses on supporting local movements in Georgia and community education and base building in matters related to policing violence, jail overcrowding and the connectedness of carceral systems and the harms experienced by communities.

He joined SCHR in March 2022 after working as a Senior Assistant Public Defender at the Office of the Circuit Public Defender-Atlanta Judicial Circuit for over 12 years, zealously advocating on the behalf of nearly 1500 indigent, accused persons charged with felony offenses. Devin is a graduate of Gideon’s Promise trial advocacy training program for Public Defenders and currently serves as a faculty member for the organization’s Core 101 programming.

Additionally, he is a recipient of the 2020 Gideon’s Promise Foot Soldier Award, an honor given in recognition of service to make equal justice a reality, and the 2024 ‘Commitment to GACDL Award’ given by the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Devin has served on the faculty of the Georgia Public Defender Council’s Advance Practice Workshop during its existence and is also on faculty for GACDL’s Bill Daniel’s Trial Advocacy Program and the National Criminal Defense College (NCDC). He has also served as Co-Chair and curator for the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ 2022 Winter Training, “Death to the Criminal Punishment Bureaucracy: The Evolution of Criminal Justice and the Revolution of Values in a Carceral Society”.

He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Hampton University (Hampton, Va) in Sports Management and a Juris Doctor from Mercer Law School (Macon, Ga).

Patrice Fulcher is the Director of Training for the Maryland Office of the Public Defender (OPD).  She joined OPD in 2015, and is responsible for heading the Agency’s Gideon’s Promise Certified New Hire Attorney Training Program, and developing/managing all other public defender training curriculum for OPD’s attorneys and core staff throughout the state. Prior to becoming OPD’s Director of Training, Patrice was a tenured Associate Professor at Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School. Her scholarship and other publications focus on issues surrounding the Prison Industrial Complex; private prisons, forced prison labor, and jail/prison video visitation.  She has lectured extensively on these issues as well as the erosion of the 4th Amendment, client-centered representation, and effective storytelling techniques for defense attorneys throughout the U.S.

From 1995-2007, Patrice successfully represented indigent clients as a public defender in Georgia.  She handled capital cases, major felonies, and fought against unconditional jail conditions.  She did so while serving as a Senior Staff Attorney for the Georgia Capital Defender and the Fulton County Public Defender offices; as Senior Staff Attorney for the Fulton County Conflict Defender; and while working with the Southern Center for Human Rights.

Patrice has served as a Core Instructor for Gideon’s Promise, Inc. since its inception, and is a faculty member for the National Criminal Defense College.  She has also been a litigation instructor for The Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, The Kentucky Death Penalty Institute, The Mississippi Office of the State Public Defender Training Division, The National Association for Public Defense, The American Bar Association NACDL National Defender Training Program, The National Legal Aid & Defender Association, and is a faculty member of the Harvard Law School Trial Advocacy Workshop. She received her J.D. from Emory University School of Law, and her B.A. from Howard University. Patrice is admitted to practice law in Georgia and Maryland.

Shawna Mackey Geiger is the Director of Engagement for the Colorado Office of the Respondent Parents’ Counsel. Her focus is on supporting and improving family defenders in Colorado and around the country, as well as working to improve and abolish the family policing system. Before moving to ORPC she was the Director of Training for the Office of the Federal Public Defender in Denver and was previously the first Training Director for the Colorado Office of Alternate Defense Counsel. Prior to her role as a trainer, Ms. Geiger represented clients as a public defender as well as in private practice where she focused on indigent criminal and youth defense in both federal and state courts. Ms. Geiger teaches trial advocacy, storytelling, persuasion, leadership, trauma-informed practice, equity and diversity training, litigating constitutional and civil rights principles, and client communication skills across the country. She has served on the Board of Regents of the National Criminal Defense College and as an adjunct professor at the University of Wyoming College of Law. Shawna works with national defender organizations to ensure that family defenders advocate in an anti-oppressive manner and are consistently working to create equity for clients with disabilities and those of the LGBTQ and BIPOC communities.

Kyana Givens is an AFPD in the District of Nevada, she is currently a Detailee to the Northern and Middle Districts of GA, where she leads an initiative on Ai Automation and Strategic Litigation. She also advises trial teams and CJA attorneys on complex criminal cases at the intersection of the Federal Rules of Evidence and emerging technology. Her projects are “Client-Centered, Evidence Focused & Tech Forward”.  She brings over 19 years of experience as a trial attorney, having previously served in State and Federal Public Defender Offices in multiple jurisdictions.  She also served as an Attorney Advisor at DSO-Training Division and as a TDY at the Office of the Pardon Attorney. She started her trial advocacy career at CJI at Harvard Law School as a Fellow with Charles Ogletree. She is a faculty member at NCDC and programs for State & Federal Defenders. She regularly lectures on trial skills, digital technology in criminal cases, and unconscious bias in jury selection. Mrs. Givens is an Alumn of Northeastern University School of Law.