Basyle "Boz" Tchividjian’s courtroom dress includes bow ties and suspenders but he’s a gritty attorney, say those who deal with him on a regular basis.

    For nearly eight years, Tchividjian, grandson of famous preacher Billy Graham, went about his business at the Volusia County Courthouse in DeLand and the Justice Center in Daytona Beach, prosecuting child sex offenders.

    Men like Steven Stigall, a bespectacled computer programmer who used his own child to lure neighborhood children into his Deltona home.

    It took a jury less than 20 minutes in 1997 to find the 44 year old man guilty of abusing a 7 year-old girl, whom he fondled while she was in the same bed with his own daughter.

    Stigall subsequently was sentenced to two life terms by Circuit Judge C. McFerrin Smith.

    During his tenure in the State Attorney’s Office, Tchividjian’s prosecutions resulted in prison sentences totaling more than 1,000 years for nearly a dozen predators like Stigall.

    The hours were long and the work demanding. Tchividjian said it’s very difficult to prosecute child sex offenders because of fearful victims and reluctant parents.

    Believing he had accomplished all he could in his job, Tchividjian left his secure place with the State Attorney’s Office in August for private practice with the law firm of Landis, [Graham], French, Husfield [Husfeld], Sherman & Ford in DeLand. One of the partners, Richard Graham, recently was named to a newly created circuit judgeship in Daytona Beach by Gov. Jeb Bush.

    Tchividjian said he hasn’t regretted the decision.

    "You have to keep going forward with your goals," said Tchividjian, 33, a West Volusia resident who is married with three children. "It was time to pursue other areas of the law-employment discrimination, sexual harassment and other civil rights issues."

    Assistant State Attorney Raul Zambrano, the West Volusia supervisor for State Attorney John Tanner, said Tchividjian’s counsel and experience is "missed."

    The State Attorney’s loss is the DeLand firm’s gain. And nobody recognizes that more than the firm’s senior partner, William E. Sherman.

    "We like his experience – his quality as a lawyer, he’s an exceptional lawyer," Sherman said.

    The pace is now slower and less hectic, Tchividjian said of the change from public service to private practice. But he added, the principle of law remains the same: "Justice."

    "The things I’ve learned in being a sex crimes prosecutor are greatly assisting me now in handling sexual harassment cases," Tchividjian said.

    Those who worked with Tchividjian as a prosecutor said he was tough.

    "Boz was willing to prosecute cases that virtually every other lawyer dreaded – primarily the child sex cases." Judge Smith said. "When he got a case that was unusually serious, he became tenacious – he dug in."

    Case in point was his prosecution of Stigall.

    Tchividjian recalled the stares he received throughout the trial from the man who moved to Orlando before law enforcement caught up with him and he was charged with molesting a neighbor’s 7-year old girl.

    At sentencing, it was Tchividjian with the stare focused on Stigall as he read a statement from the victim, who had turned 11: "It’s not fair for a girl my age to live in such fear. It’s hard to believe that I once trusted this man, Steven Dale Stigall. So evil and full of sins. Steve, I hope you go to prison and never get out; so you can never touch or see a beautiful young girl like me."

    There’s another side to Tchividjian that is more prestigious, through he keeps it low-profile. He’s the grandson of the Rev. Billy Graham.

    And, by virtue of his family upbringing and not surprisingly, Tchividjian is a devout Christian.

    "My relationship with my grandfather is very strong," Tchividjian said. "Billy Graham is an American legend. I’m just blessed to have him as my grandfather. And yes, I’ve gone to some of his crusades."

    Tchividjian planned to travel to Washington D.C., this month to watch Graham become "knighted" in a private ceremony by British officials.

    Tchividjian said his bond with "God is even stronger. The most important thing in my life is my relationship with God. As a result, the priority in my life is my family."

    Tchividjian’s mother, Virginia, is the eldest of Graham’s five children.

    Smith said Tchividjian has worked hard to live down the identity with his famous grandfather.

    "He’s really had to establish his own presence and he’s a very likeable person," Smith said. "He’ll do well in private practice, like he did as a prosecutor, because he knows how to be empathetic."

 

This article originally appeared in the December 13, 2001 issue of  The News-Journal
and is printed with permission