Sarah Boone defense alleges boyfriend's suitcase death was out of self-defense, not accidental

Sarah Boone alleges boyfriend's death was self-defense

Sarah Boone was in court Thursday with her ninth lawyer. She’s accused of zipping her boyfriend into a suitcase and then leaving him to suffocate while she stood over him, laughing as he begged her to let him out. Boone’s attorneys said for the first time they plan to pursue a self-defense claim. Before this, Boone had made her boyfriend’s death seem accidental.

ORANGE COUNTY - Sarah Boone was in court Thursday with her ninth lawyer.

She is accused of zipping her boyfriend into a suitcase and then leaving him to suffocate while she stood over him, laughing as he begged her to let him out.

Boone’s attorneys said for the first time they plan to pursue a self-defense claim. Before this, Boone had made her boyfriend’s death seem accidental.

"This is a unique case, judge," Sarah Boone’s new lawyer James Owens said Thursday.

The big argument in court was over whether Sarah Boone would be able to claim she suffered from Battered Woman Syndrome – and that killing her boyfriend, Jorge Torres, was the only way out of an abusive relationship.

Assistant State Attorney William Jay argued, "The cornerstone is self-defense… she repeatedly said there was no violence that day."

In an interview with a detective, Boone said repeatedly she and Torres were on good terms the night she was arrested for his murder – saying, "Nobody touched nobody" and "I don’t have any injuries, he and I have not been at it."

Judge Michael Kraynick got into a bit of an argument with the defense about spending four years claiming it was an accident, but now saying it was justifiable use of force.

"How is your purported defense applicable legally?" Judge Kraynick asked.