ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – An Orlando woman facing trial for second-degree murder in the death of a man she’s accused of zipping inside of a suitcase must now represent herself after forfeiting her right to a court-appointed attorney due to her behavior, records show.
Sarah Boone, 46, was arrested in 2020 following the death of 42-year-old Jorge Torres Jr., her boyfriend, that February. Boone is accused of leaving Torres to die of asphyxiation in a zipped suitcase for up to 11 hours as he called out for her.
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Patricia A. Cashman, Boone’s latest attorney, was granted a motion to withdraw as her counsel on Friday. Regarding Cashman and the seven attorneys who preceded her, “irreconcilable differences” are noted as the reason for many of withdraw motions granted, with instances of Boone’s alleged “antagonism, hostility, and attacks on the professionalism” of her attorneys noted in Friday’s court minutes.
Boone’s forfeiture to a court-appointed attorney was spelled out as a “judicial response that adapts the course of the legal proceedings to the defendant’s choice to engage in misconduct that undermines the legitimate exercise of the right to counsel,” with the judge clarifying Boone’s attorneys were largely required to withdraw due to her behavior toward them.
Examples of this behavior included Boone’s alleged attempts to contact an attorney as much as 10 times per day, being difficult to work with in that she took “nonviable legal positions,” walking out of multiple meetings, lobbing derogatory statements and at one point accusing Cashman of using a “pretend judge” to oversee them.
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Boone on Feb. 24, 2020, called Orange County deputies to an apartment along Frantz Lane in Winter Park to report that Torres was dead, according to an arrest affidavit.
She told investigators that she and Torres were drinking wine, painting and assembling a puzzle the night before, claiming they had agreed it would be “funny” if the two played hide-n-seek. Boone said the game ended with Torres zipped in a suitcase and her asleep upstairs, the affidavit states.
After allowing investigators to search her phone, Boone drove herself to the sheriff’s office on Feb. 25, 2020, for a follow-up interview, during which she was shown one of two noteworthy videos found on the device.
The video allegedly shows the suitcase facing down and moving as Torres pushed around in an attempt to escape. Torres could be heard repeatedly calling out to Boone as she laughed at and taunted him, deputies said.
“For everything you’ve done to me. (Expletive) you. Stupid,” Boone said in the video, according to the affidavit.
“I can’t (expletive) breathe, seriously,” Torres replied.
“Yeah that’s what you do when you choke me,” Boone could reportedly be heard saying.
Boone reportedly didn’t want to finish watching the video, telling investigators it looked “bad” and denying that she left Torres in the suitcase.
The case is set for trial in a two-week period beginning Oct. 7, 2024, and will not be continued for any reason except for extraordinarily good cause, the judge ruled Friday.
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