A Florida woman accused of killing her boyfriend by locking him in a suitcase during a game of hide-and-seek must represent herself in her murder trial after going through eight public defenders, a judge ruled last week.
Sarah Boone has never had a good run with her court-appointed lawyer since her 2020 arrest on suspicion of murdering her partner, Jorge Torrez Jr.
“The best course of action is to let the defendant represent himself. No lawyer can satisfy the defendant,” Judge Michael Kranick said. Fox 35.
“While the defendant’s statements seem to reveal a desire for trial, her behavior and inability to cooperate with court-appointed counsel have been repeated time and time again,” he wrote on June 28.
According to Fox 35, during a status call last month, Boone complained that he wasn’t happy with his latest lawyer, claiming that the lawyer had lied to him and had a “cocky attitude.”
“I feel like she’s been lying to me and is completely biased towards me, which I think makes her even more mean towards me. I don’t trust her,” Boone reportedly claimed.
“People always, always, always blame me. They say it’s my fault that I was named the eighth lawyer. But none of them are my fault.”
The lawyers said Boone had refused to cooperate with attorney-client discussions.
According to Fox 35 reports, numerous lawyers who tried to assist her all dropped out for a variety of reasons, including irreconcilable differences.
In a bizarre 58-page letter to the judge obtained by the station, Boone raised more than 30 concerns to the judge and lawyers about evidence and witnesses.
Police arrested Boone, then 42, in February 2020 after investigators found cellphone footage of him mocking Torres, who was locked in a suitcase.
At one point, Torres allegedly yelled that he couldn’t breathe while being taunted by her.
“That’s your fault. Oh, I felt the same way when you betrayed me,” Boone said, according to court documents.
Boone claimed to police that she had forgotten her boyfriend was in the suitcase and had slept for hours, only to wake up to find Torres still locked inside.
After police rescued Torrez from the luggage, they found a small cut on his lip and bruising around his eye.
She has been charged with second-degree murder.
