Nine attorneys in, and Sarah Boone is mounting a new defense strategy. Formerly accused of murdering her boyfriend, Jorge Torres Jr., by suffocating him in a zipped suitcase, Boone recently shifted from portraying the incident as accidental to claiming she acted in self-defense—citing battered spouse syndrome.
Her ninth lawyer, James Owens, stunned the courtroom when he announced this bold new direction during a recent motion hearing. When Judge Michael Kraynick asked if this was the first time the self-defense claim had been raised, he confirmed it was.
The legal switch comes after a long and turbulent pretrial period. Boone, now 47, is charged with second-degree murder in the 2020 death of Torres, whose body was discovered in a suitcase in their Winter Park, Florida apartment.
Prosecutors have focused on cell phone footage showing Boone laughing and taunting Torres inside the suitcase as he pleaded for help—evidence the jury found hard to reconcile with her claims of accidental neglect.
Boone’s attorney is now calling for the battered spouse syndrome defense to be admitted, arguing her actions were a response to years of abuse. To support the claim, their team has enlisted expert witnesses. Prosecutors, however, have filed motions to bar the defense, arguing Boone’s own earlier statements contradict a self-defense narrative.
Judge Kraynick has since ruled that the defense can use the syndrome in opening statements but must submit to an evaluation by a state-chosen expert.
Boone’s trial began in October 2024, with the jury returning a swift guilty verdict for second-degree murder in just two hours. In December, she was sentenced to life in prison without parole.