As the trial of Sarah Boone, an Orlando woman accused of disturbing murder approaches, significant pretrial rulings have surfaced. Boone, 46, is facing a second-degree murder charge for the 2020 death of her boyfriend, Jorge Torres Jr., who suffered fatal asphyxiation after being left in a zipped suitcase. WFTV reports that a judge has ruled against Boone's legal team's efforts to exclude her statements made to deputies from her trial starting Monday.
Despite Boone's not-guilty plea, her pretrial has been marked by the denial of a motion to exclude recorded statements from when she was initially interviewed by the police. This has drawn particular attention as she has now worked with her ninth attorney, raising questions about the defense's strategy going forward. However, the trial is set for Oct. 7. According to ClickOrlando, Boone felt tricked by a detective's prompt that brought her back to the sheriff’s office to retrieve her cell phone, only to be ushered into a two-hour interrogation.
As detailed by ClickOrlando, the defense's allegations that Boone was coerced by the detective providing an incomplete Miranda warning were met with resistance from the court, as the judge referred to precedent from Miller v. State (Fla. 2010) to uphold that the Miranda warning was adequately given, with the text, “the Florida Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court have ‘[s]tressed that there is not a talismanic incantation required to ensure [that Miranda] warnings are sufficiently conveyed.’”
Adding layers to the defense, Boone's attorneys sought to introduce "battered spouse syndrome," claiming she endured physical and psychological abuse at the hands of Torres. The request was met with complications, but a judge permitted it on Sept. 20, as part of the defense, and ordered Boone to be assessed by a state-selected expert, referencing the Dillbeck v. State (Fla. 1994) case.
