Sarah Boone’s attorney has asked to be removed from her case, meaning that the accused killer is now forced to search for a ninth defense attorney.
Boone, 42, has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of her boyfriend, Jorge Torres in February 2020 in Winter Park, Florida. He died after she put him into a suitcase, police said. Boone has maintained that her boyfriend died following a game of hide-and-seek.
The couple had gotten drunk, she told investigators, and were laughing at how funny it would be if he got zipped up in the luggage. After putting him inside the suitcase, she said she passed out in bed and woke up hours later to realize he was still inside and called 911.
Police said they found two videos on the woman’s phone showing that the man had allegedly yelled out he couldn’t breathe while she laughed. She allegedly responded: “Yeah that’s what you do when you choke me,” according to WKMG.
She allegedly continued: “That’s on you. Oh, that’s what I feel like when you cheat on me.”
Police said one of the videos shows the man attempting to escape. Another shows the luggage in another position as Torres calls out to Boone. Investigators said they arrested Boone after finding her statements to be inconsistent.
This week, Boone’s former defense attorney, Patricia Cashman, filed a motion asking to be withdrawn from the case, becoming the eighth attorney to do so.
In court filings, Cashman cited irreconcilable differences, “including, but not limited to, ethical considerations.” Cashman had represented Boone at a Friday hearing, according to Court TV.
During that hearing, Boone gave the judge presiding over the case a 58-page letter complaining about Cashman - who Boone said had a “snotty attitude.”
“I’ve never experienced anyone like Ms Cashman,” Boone told the judge on Friday.
“She will change her disposition and her attitude towards me, and it doesn’t matter how dumbed-down I am to myself to try to coexist with her. I’ve even come up with the solution to have a pretend judge in interactions with her so she would try hopefully to treat me appropriately and professionally, which she does not do.”
The woman has had a complaint about all of her former attorneys.
Frank Bankowitz, the sixth attorney to represent the suspected killer, withdrew from her case after Boone called him a “dud” and a “buffoon.”
The seventh attorney withdrew from the case after the defendant sent letters to the court complaining about their communication styles.
At Friday’s hearing, the attorney pushed back on Boone’s comments. She said she spent hours with her and accepted calls from jail. It was Boone who refused to cooperate with her, she told the judge.
“I’ve spent over 20 hours going through her questions, going through her lists,” she told the court. “When I try to update her with regard to the depositions that I took recently, she opted to exit the jail conference. When I tried to review some things with regard to discovery as to things I wanted to make sure she was aware of, she walked out.”
