ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Sarah Boone, after having lost eight attorneys and seemingly forfeiting her right to a court-appointed defense leading up to her trial on a murder charge, has just retained new legal counsel, according to documents filed Friday.
Boone, 46, was arrested in 2020 following the death of 42-year-old Jorge Torres Jr., her boyfriend, that February. Boone, who faces a charge of second-degree murder, is accused of leaving Torres to die of asphyxiation in a zipped suitcase for up to 11 hours as he called out for her.
In June of this year, Boone’s so-called 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. “Irreconcilable differences” — as well as alleged instances of “antagonism, hostility” and attacks on her attorneys’ professionalism — were noted among the reasons why some of the withdrawn motions were reportedly granted while several others more generally cited “a conflict.”
Friday, Boone requested a motion of continuance to push the trial date from Oct. 7. She also retained new legal counsel with James Owens, of James Owens Attorney at Law, who court documents show had met with Boone four times at the Orange County jail between Aug. 20 and 27.
Earlier, a motion was filed Tuesday to dismiss the case altogether on grounds that the 6th Amendment — specifically Boone’s right to a speedy trial — had been violated, stating, “Unafective (sic) substandard state provided attorneys should have made this request long ago proving this as a fact.”
The motion to dismiss was stricken on Wednesday. Scans attached to the initial filing suggest the request was mailed directly to Orange County Clerk of Courts Tiffany Moore Russell from a law firm in Bakersfield, California. Thus, the court struck the motion on the grounds it was filed by a non-party.
Boone’s three-week jury trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 7.
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