Sarah Boone Murder Trial Update: Big Court Win For Alleged Suitcase Killer

Sarah Boone, the Florida woman accused of murdering her boyfriend by trapping him in a suitcase, was handed a major legal win on Friday as she prepares to represent herself in her upcoming trial. Boone is now free to appear in court without handcuffs and her leg shackles will also be removed once her trial
Sarah Boone Murder Trial Update: Big Court Win For Alleged Suitcase Killer

Sarah Boone, the Florida woman accused of murdering her boyfriend by trapping him in a suitcase, was handed a major legal win on Friday as she prepares to represent herself in her upcoming trial.

Boone is now free to appear in court without handcuffs and her leg shackles will also be removed once her trial begins on October 7, after Orange County Circuit Judge Michael S. Kraynick approved her handwritten motion.

The 46-year-old Florida woman was charged with second-degree murder related to the 2020 death of her boyfriend Jorge Torres Jr. She allegedly convinced him to get into a suitcase at a home in Winter Park, then zipped him inside of it.

When she opened the suitcase the next day, he was dead.

Sarah Boone will be allowed to appear in court without handcuffs, and her leg shackles will be removed once the trial begins. Boone was ordered to represent herself after going through eight lawyers. Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP and Orange County Clerk Court Records

Boone lost her right to legal counsel in June after she went through eight lawyers, with multiple resigning due to “irreconcilable differences.”

In her motion, Boone requested to be unshackled and unhandcuffed in the courtroom, so she could “turn pages, pick up objects, open documents, pass information, utilize [a] laptop” and freely perform other “normal” movements.

“I’m just asking to sit here unhandcuffed so I can write without taking skin off of my wrist and being extremely uncomfortable,” Boone said at Friday’s hearing.

Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy Gavin Lowtan voiced his disapproval of the motion during his testimony at the hearing, based on the charge she’s currently facing and previous domestic violence arrests.

He also alleged she has refused to come to court for hearings on three separate occasions.

“When you combine all that, it shows a propensity for violence, and not wanting to follow lawful commands and orders from law enforcement personnel,” Lowtan said.

Boone challenged Lowtan’s claim.

I’ve never missed a court date. In the almost five years that I’ve been here I’ve never argued, I’ve never hesitated,” Boone said.

Court records from a hearing on January 28, 2021 state Boone will not be present because she refused.

Kraynick ruled in Boone’s favor. During the trial, she will wear a “stun cuff.”

Courthouse deputy Chad Barnett explained during his testimony that the wireless cuff is secured to the leg and can discharge 50,000 volts, which would cause the person wearing it to fall.

One deputy will be in charge of monitoring Boone and controlling the cuff during the trial.

Boone will appear in court on Wednesday to discuss how she can view the evidence in her case.

Do you have a story Newsweek should be covering? Do you have any questions about this story? Contact LiveNews@newsweek.com

Total
0
Shares
Leave a Reply
Related Posts
Chaos at 30,000ft: London-bound easyJet plane is forced to make emergency landing after ‘bird hit the aircraft’ hours after co-pilot faints on another flight
Read More

Chaos at 30,000ft: London-bound easyJet plane is forced to make emergency landing after ‘bird hit the aircraft’ hours after co-pilot faints on another flight

An easyJet plane bound for London had to turn back to Faro and make a reported emergency landing - hours after a co-pilot for the low cost airline fainted en route to Lisbon. The aircraft with 161 passengers on board is understood to have hit a bird shortly after take-off yesterday afternoon. Flight tracking information showed
India’s New Gas Pipeline Project Unfrozen After Six Years
Read More

India’s New Gas Pipeline Project Unfrozen After Six Years

India will finally be able to resume work on its new gas pipeline project which will run through Afghanistan, after years of delays. The TAPI project, which has been in development since it was first thought of in the 1990s, is supposed to transport natural gas from Turkmenistan to India through Afghanistan and Pakistan. While