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FL v. Sarah Boone: Defendant Takes the Stand 'Suitcase Murder Trial' | Pt. 1 — Transcript

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0:04state do you recognize our jury yes
0:07defense do you recognize our jury all
0:09right thank you youall can be
0:11seated members of the jury after seated
0:13and comfortable if you could raise your
0:15hands to confirm that you complied with
0:17the Court's instructions during the
0:18break record reflect all hands have been
0:21raised with that state has rested the
0:23defense is going to put on a Case
0:26defense Mr Owens you can call your first
0:28witness the defense would call Sarah
0:42Boon ra your pleas Please square or the
0:46testimony you should give sh theuth
0:48whole truth nothing the truth so help
0:49you got I do all right ma'am you can
0:52take a seat and if you could State and
0:54spell your name for the record for
0:58us Sarah boon
1:0110177 and could you spell your name s a
1:04r a h b o o n e all right thank you very
1:07much sir you may inquire Miss Boon would
1:10you please uh tell the jury where you
1:12were born and raised Atlanta Georgia you
1:16were born in Atlanta I was born in
1:18Atlanta and how long did you stay in
1:20Atlanta before you moved here to Florida
1:22I was 3 years old three or four okay and
1:26um from that time y'all moved you and
1:29your family your mother and father moved
1:31to Orlando and my grandparents okay you
1:34all moved down from Atlanta down to
1:36Orlando yes and my two brothers okay and
1:40uh did you were you raised here
1:41essentially from that time on yes and
1:44you resided here in Orange County
1:45Florida that entire time yes okay and uh
1:49where did did you go to high school here
1:50locally I did where did you go to high
1:53school graduat okay and tell the jury uh
1:56how old were you when you graduated I
1:58was 18 years old
2:00now I know you lost your mother and
2:02father uh over I know you lost your
2:05mother and father and your teens and in
2:07your 20s is that true I lost my
2:11grandfather when I was a sophomore in
2:13high school and I lost my father when I
2:15was a senior and then uh my mother
2:18passed away a few years after that and
2:21then my grandmother passed away after my
2:23mother died or so you were in your 20s
2:26when all that was going on yes okay
2:30and then at some point in your 20s you
2:32met Brian Boone I did yes all right and
2:36did uh how long did y'all datee before
2:37you
2:38married
2:40um a good handful of years my I helped
2:44my family with paying mortgage and bills
2:47for the house since my father had passed
2:49away and my grandfather so um so you
2:53worked outside the home I did okay can
2:56you tell the jury when you said you and
2:59Brian boon
3:00um dated for a while do you remember uh
3:03when y'all married I do could you tell
3:05the jury when y'all were married the
3:07year yeah um you remember the date it
3:12happened to be yes that after my mother
3:13passed away that he had waited to ask me
3:16to marry him because he knew it would be
3:18um I non responsive
3:21sustained just just answer the question
3:24if you can miss bab are you are you a
3:26little bit nervous a little bit okay
3:28well just just tell the jury if you
3:30remember the date that you and Brian
3:32Boone married August 21st 2004 okay and
3:35had y'all lived with each other for a
3:37little a short time before that short
3:39time yes okay after you married how long
3:43was it before y'all had any
3:45children um
3:48gosh six years okay and y'all y'all have
3:52one son yes what's his name Lucas and
3:56how old is Lucas now Lucas will be 14
3:58years old on the 28
4:0028th of this month yes okay so you and
4:04Brian um were married and y'all lived in
4:07Orange County how long you all married
4:10for 13
4:11years right and Y all divorced yes and
4:15as part of the divorce were yall to
4:17share custody of your son
4:20yes so y'all had split days would that
4:22be fair to say yes okay it's sometime
4:26after you and Brian split up did you
4:28meet uh George
4:30Torres yes all right could you tell the
4:32jury how you met George
4:35Torres um I Met George
4:38when I decided
4:41to Buck up I guess and was tired of
4:45trying to patch things up with my
4:48ex-husband and I decided to go one day
4:51for a walk across the street and go have
4:54a beer by myself and sit and people
4:56watch just to get out of my house and a
5:00change of scenery all right now this is
5:02is this your
5:03apartment no this is the marital home
5:07okay where is that marital home Winter
5:10Park you're no longer living in that
5:13marital home no who lives in the marital
5:15home um no when it has been sold
5:18okay so this you met George Torres
5:21before you got the apartment yes okay
5:24and you met him at a bar across the
5:26street from the marital home yes we had
5:28a mutual friend there
5:30were you introduced yes all right how
5:33did you and
5:34George um get along when you all first
5:38met um very well it
5:41was
5:44um it was strange how quickly we hit
5:48things off and had so much in common and
5:52um I never thought that he would be
5:55interested in someone like me and
5:58I just couldn't believe that he was
6:01actually interested in me and said a lot
6:03of nice things and
6:05um one hour ended up being four hours um
6:09from when we had first met and then we
6:10would always have something to talk
6:11about why why couldn't you believe that
6:14he would be interested in
6:16you um he was very handsome um he was
6:20very funny
6:23um he was smart and
6:27I would show up in workout clothes and
6:30disheveled hair and I guess I kind of
6:33felt broken from being in the process of
6:35the divorce that he knew about but then
6:37one of the things that we could relate
6:39also was the fact that he was here in
6:40Florida because he had just been
6:42divorced from his second wife so that
6:44was another um topic that he and I could
6:48compare notes
6:50on So eventually the divorce was settled
6:53did you get your own place
6:56yes is it fair to say that
7:00after
7:02you at first you lived in your your
7:05parents home correct yes until I was
7:07married and then you moved directly in
7:09with Brian yes and then y'all lived in
7:12the marital home correct yes and then
7:15you got this apartment yes so that was
7:17the first time in your life that you
7:19actually had your own place yes and what
7:21was the address
7:234748 France Court Apartment number three
7:27and what city is that in it's in witer
7:29park
7:30how far is that from
7:32here 20 minutes okay so you got that
7:36apartment and uh initially were you by
7:40yourself um no all right tell tell the
7:43jury um in the almost year about 10
7:48months of separation from Brian my
7:51ex-husband that is the time when I met
7:54uh George and my ex-husband was trying
7:57to buy me out or Force me out of our
8:00marital home and I needed to find
8:02somewhere to live and um so did you did
8:06you and George agree to rent the
8:07apartment yes one of the I needed extra
8:12income we could not afford it um just on
8:15my own you were receiving some income
8:17from the the marriage settlement were
8:19you not yes so you you did have a
8:22consistent monthly income coming in from
8:24the uh settle marriage settlement for
8:27the most part yes but you needed you
8:29needed more to to uh live yes to pay the
8:33bills and for rent so did you and George
8:35have some agreement we did all right
8:37what was the agreement the agreement was
8:39that if I decided um for he and I to
8:42live with one another because it would
8:44be under my name that he would help with
8:48the monthly bills and on a regular basis
8:50where it wouldn't be something that I
8:52would have to argue with him about it
8:53would just be an
8:54automatic um make sure that everything's
8:57paid first and then from there hopefully
8:59have some fun with it okay so I
9:01understand from that point
9:04on um would it be fair to
9:07say that yall saw each other on and off
9:12for about the next three and a half
9:14years no um we were I I would consider
9:20us a couple at some point he asked me to
9:23marry him okay but y'all y'all did have
9:26times where he left and went to live
9:27with his parents yes is that is that
9:29fair yes and there were times where uh
9:34there was an understanding that y'all
9:35were going to break
9:37up multiple times
9:40okay all right
9:43so again on again off again yes this was
9:47actually before we had our um apartment
9:51that was I guess our dating phase okay
9:54so y'all were together for three and a
9:56half years is that fair mhm yes and
9:58y'all had had actually agreed to marry
10:02he had asked me yes um a couple of times
10:05to marry him and one time I agreed to
10:08yes
10:10okay now I want to get directly to the
10:13date of this event so that the jury can
10:17hear your testimony all right so tell us
10:22I believe the date is February the 23rd
10:24of
10:262020 explain to the jury that whole day
10:30from the time y'all got up the whole
10:34thing
10:58approach e
11:41objections overruled for
11:45now now miss Boon let's just instead of
11:50one long speech let me break you up over
11:53the course of the day so do you remember
11:55the date of February 23rd 2020 yes do
11:59you remember getting
12:00up yes all right just tell the jury
12:03about the morning what y'all did that
12:05morning what you and George George you
12:07and George spent the night together at
12:08at the apartment yes at that point he
12:11was living there yes so y'all slept in
12:14the bed together
12:16upstairs February so you got you would
12:19have gotten up y'all would have gotten
12:20up that morning February 23rd of 2020
12:23yes all right tell the jury what
12:25happened when y'all got up um he was
12:28already downstairs stairs and I went
12:31downstairs and he wanted to start the
12:35day off by drinking because it was a day
12:37off from his job and I talked him
12:41into cleaning and tidying up the house
12:44for a sense of accomplishment um so that
12:47is what we did um for however long that
12:50it took um so we did tidy up the house
12:54and got everything in order and it was
12:57kind of a reward I guess to be able to
12:59sit and enjoy ourselves and um sit on
13:03the back court all right what do you
13:05mean by cleaning up the house what did
13:06you all do um we swept and mopped we
13:09folded some of the laundry um I know
13:12that we did the dishes um emptied the
13:14dishwasher just general run-of-the-mill
13:17tidying up and did you have your son
13:20coming the next day yes that was one of
13:23the reasons why we we were able to do
13:25that what was the arrangement you had in
13:27terms of the next day would have been
13:29your day to pick up your son from school
13:31yes what time would you pick Lucas up
13:33from school the next day I believe his
13:36school ended at 3:00 okay so you would
13:39have been responsible to pick him up and
13:41he would be spending a night with you
13:42that night yes so you wanted to have the
13:45house nice and clean yes how many
13:47bedrooms are in the home two and uh you
13:51and George had one bedroom yes and who
13:53had the other Lucas right is that
13:55exclusively his bedroom yes
13:59all right so how long would it have
14:00taken y'all that morning to
14:03clean um I don't really remember what
14:05time we woke up um but maybe a good two
14:10maybe three hours okay and would it be
14:13fair to say that you and George both
14:15smoke cigarettes yes and would it be
14:17fair to say that you and George both
14:20drink alcohol yes so it's some point
14:23y'all finished
14:25your chores right and then y'all were
14:28going to enjoy the day yes all right
14:30what was the
14:32plan um it was just kind of you know
14:35we've got the day to ourselves just kind
14:37of relax and go with the flow all were
14:40y'all did y'all make a decision that
14:42y'all were going to start drinking um
14:44yes he we had a a half of a bottle that
14:47was already in the refrigerator and I
14:52did not want to go out afterwards I
14:54again had Lucas coming the next day so
14:57we went over to public to purchase
15:00another bottle of wine um so we could um
15:04not have to go out later on that evening
15:06now you you were here in court when the
15:09state the state played the video of you
15:12two and the Public's purchasing the
15:14bottle of wine yes is that what you're
15:16referring to here with the jury right
15:18now yes okay and that was around
15:21Nish I believe so yes okay had y'all
15:24started drinking the the leftover bottle
15:27before before going to the public no
15:29okay
15:32so y'all bought a bottle of wine yes all
15:35right and how did y'all get to Publix my
15:38car how far is Publix from your
15:42apartment five minutes how would you get
15:45there from your apartment what do you
15:47mean did you have to go across any major
15:50highways or is it right there um you
15:53just come out of our um apartment
15:55complex and you do a little U-turn and
15:56then you come up and it's right in that
15:57complex okay
15:59but it's easier to drive than to walk
16:02yes okay I know at sometimes y'all would
16:05y'all would simply need cigarettes and
16:06it was in walking distance can you tell
16:08the jury about that yes um there was a
16:12Auto Zone convenience store with um in
16:15the same I guess parking lot of our town
16:18home our complex and it was just a
16:21straight shot from our um apartment to a
16:25back gate and you could get right into
16:27the convenience store from right there
16:28okay
16:29but y'all went over to get that ban
16:31around noonish and how did y'all Y you
16:33took your car yes did George have a
16:35vehicle he did not
16:37okay and uh how did you pay for the one
16:40with my debit
16:42card and then y'all came back and
16:44started drinking yes okay tell us what
16:46you did when you got back from the
16:49publics um just went on the back porch
16:52where we um usually spend our time
16:56because we're able to smoke cigarettes
16:58outside as a go to
16:59inside and is cigarette smoking not
17:02allowed indoors it is not okay do you
17:06have pets yes I do well did did you have
17:09pets I did yes okay
17:13um were they with y'all there that day
17:17yes my dogs were with me all the time
17:19when I was there how many dogs do you
17:21have I have two and uh just what are
17:24their names Penny and Tess and what what
17:28is the
17:29um they are red Boston terriers and are
17:32they both the same um yes penny is blind
17:36and te is
17:38deaf so when y'all went out to
17:41smoke on the back porch and drink I
17:45assume as well correct yes um did y'all
17:48take the dogs out oh yes all right um is
17:51there a place for them to do their
17:53business out there um yes I extended our
17:58back port
17:59um for them to have a little bit of area
18:02as opposed to going from a large back
18:05yard from my marital home to our little
18:07town home and um they would come out
18:10there and do their business and I could
18:12sometimes open I would open the gate and
18:13then walk them in the back part of our
18:15um apartment so you and George were just
18:17going to enjoy the day together correct
18:21is it fair to say you don't have a lot
18:22of money yes and so y'all were going to
18:25do something there in the home y'all
18:27weren't going out for dinner
18:30yes we primarily I would consider us
18:32home bodies as opposed to going out and
18:35partying and doing this and that okay
18:38and how long do you think yall were out
18:42uh that afternoon
18:45outside um a few hours could you tell
18:48the jury what y'all
18:49did during that time um we have a dart
18:53board that's out there
18:56and we just had drinks and were uh just
19:01really enjoying each other's company and
19:02talking about you know things up coming
19:05you know um we both were looking for a
19:08job and just kind of I guess encouraging
19:12and supporting and planning
19:15and well now you said he had a job was
19:18he looking for a job a second job no the
19:21job that he had was very unstable and at
19:24that so he was looking for something new
19:27yes at that time yes okay and so during
19:30that two or three hours would it be fair
19:32to say that y'all drank the
19:34bottle yes okay so would it be fair to
19:38say that y'all were feeling the effects
19:39of the
19:40alcohol yes okay at some point who made
19:44the decision to come in I did okay why
19:47why did y'all why did you want to come
19:49in I felt that George needed a change of
19:52scenery okay so y'all came in and then
19:56um
19:59did y'all do anything else before he
20:01left again were y'all doing anything I
20:05know y'all y'all did some arts and
20:07crafts what what did y'all do at some
20:10point he went to get another bottle at
20:12Publix yes um after I believe it was
20:16after we had it was right before I
20:18believe that we had gone inside um
20:21because uh he called his daughters I was
20:24trying to encourage him to call his
20:26family okay now where where are his
20:28daughters
20:29um his two daughters are located in
20:31Pennsylvania and what are their names
20:34Anna and
20:35Destiny and how old are
20:37they I believe that Anna is in her 30s
20:40and um destiny may be in
20:44her early 20s all right does he have any
20:47more children yes he has a son and what
20:51does his son he is in Pennsylvania also
20:54okay so part of that afternoon as y'all
20:58came in to call relatives call family no
21:01I had him call
21:03outside um just trying
21:07to I guess boost the mood um
21:12and uh the first daughter didn't answer
21:15and I don't remember the reason I didn't
21:18speak to the second one it I believe if
21:20he did it was just for a moment right
21:22now whose phone we are using my phone
21:24all right and is that common for yall to
21:27use that for you allall to share that
21:29phone it was because George said that he
21:32didn't have a phone so um it would
21:35either be lost
21:36or um given to him by his mother uh so I
21:41didn't know he had a cell phone so we
21:43would use my phone so it was primarily
21:45your phone yes okay and um you took a
21:50lot of photographs that were on that
21:52phone yes video tapes yes text messages
21:56yes phone calls he and I both on the
21:59phone calls so he would use it as well
22:02yes and uh that phone is that the one
22:05that was that was seized in this case
22:10yes all right so y'all called his
22:15daughters and then um during that phone
22:18call period did you also call his
22:20brother yes okay and who which brother
22:23was that John now how many how many
22:26brothers and sisters does George have
22:30um I'm going to list them if that's okay
22:33okay um it's John
22:37farell Isaac
22:41Mo and his
22:43sister okay and do they all live here in
22:46Florida yes are they close by as far as
22:49I know yes what about his
22:51parents yes they live here as well yes
22:55okay but his Ex-Wives and his children
22:59live up in philad Philadelphia yes
23:04okay so you called called the girls then
23:07you called uh or George called his
23:09brother yes was that conversation that
23:12long no it was not
23:15okay and then after that phone call U
23:19what did y'all were y'all Inside by this
23:21time yes at this at this point I believe
23:24that it was a good time to get a change
23:27of scenery so I thought George would be
23:31better off inside and frankly I didn't
23:34want to be outside any longer
23:36either so just to get an idea about this
23:39time is when he went to get the second
23:41bottle or did y'all stay inside for a
23:43while before he left no um from what I
23:45recall it was I thought the day was over
23:49and it was going to
23:50be um get ready for the evening for the
23:53day what maybe what do you want for
23:55dinner you know do you have an extra
23:57load of laundry that you need to throw
23:58in and kind of thing and that was my
24:01understanding and this was this was
24:03about fiveish or something I don't
24:06remember the time okay at some point
24:09during that time period did George go to
24:12Publix again yes I thought he was going
24:15to be walking to the convenience store
24:18but apparently um when he returned he
24:21had gone across the street with my car
24:23and my debit card to buy another bottle
24:25of wine what was your understanding of
24:27where he was going
24:28to the convenience store walking for
24:31what cigarettes okay and you've learned
24:35you learned obviously that he came back
24:37and you you learned that he'd used your
24:39vehicle yes and he'd used your debit
24:42card yes and he' brought back a bottle
24:44of wine from Publix right and you saw
24:47the uh the Publix video of that
24:51yes so he comes back with the other
24:53bottle of wine and did he want you to
24:56drink with him it was expected yes yes
25:00and you agreed to consume the one the
25:02second bottle with him yes okay so over
25:05the course of that evening drinking the
25:08wine did what did y'all do for time wise
25:12uh watch a movie music just kind of tell
25:14the jury what you remember I know it's
25:16obviously been a while
25:18but um it was kind of a regular thing
25:21where um I would always try to come up
25:24with um entertaining activities or
25:28George and
25:32um for um I bought a a puzzle um we
25:37started off uh at one point doing a
25:39smaller puzzle and then we did that very
25:42quickly so then I purchased a larger
25:44puzzle and I believe it was a thousand
25:46pieces so I thought to get his mind off
25:48of things and to focus on
25:50something um it would be smart for us to
25:53do the puzzle so for however long that
25:57took um um we finished the puzzle so
26:01that was one did you did you every piece
26:03was finished or was um every piece was
26:06finished it was strange that we couldn't
26:07find one piece and we thought it was
26:09funny that um it was like in like the
26:11perfect place on there but yes every
26:13everyone but one piece all right after
26:16the puzzle what did what did y'all do um
26:19I decided to continue to maintain and
26:24focus him and I have a bunch of paints
26:29that I used of my sons that um his
26:32grandmother bought him it's a very big
26:35art wooden box and it's got pastels
26:38pencils paint any kind of whatever and
26:41um he and I were very much into art and
26:44with these with this resource it got him
26:46very interested in being more creative
26:49how long have you been
26:50inor um ever since I can remember as a
26:54child you like to draw I like to do
26:57anything AR
26:59okay and I know you know we saw some of
27:01the pictures of your apartment but it
27:02looks like there was pictures and
27:04artwork up is that all your work and
27:06George's work the majority of it yes are
27:09uh belongings from my home um and then
27:13also some of George's yes on the wall
27:15was he pretty good at art as well yes
27:18all right so you both enjoyed doing that
27:20very much so yall got out uh Lucas's art
27:23set what did y'all do with that um we
27:26were just I guess doodling you know
27:30whatever I would always tell him that
27:32everything that you make is a
27:33masterpiece so um just let loose and
27:38just let it go and we would just paint
27:41and drink paint and drink yes and uh
27:44listening to music sometimes and yes
27:46okay now with the dogs did y'all get the
27:49dogs involved oh yes my dogs follow me
27:51everywhere yes was there some dancing
27:53going on with the dogs yes after we had
27:56completed the puzzle and and
28:00um I guess we painted out um I thought
28:04that it might be a good point for us to
28:06maybe listen to some music um
28:10and the music that George listens to is
28:12a little it's very fractious to me and
28:15it was definitely not going to lighten
28:17the mood so we ended up finding some
28:19channel on the radio and um he was
28:22feeling it and then we ended up my one
28:24dog um gets very active and was dancing
28:27with us and we were just
28:29um having a good time listening to music
28:31okay and um I guess it's getting pretty
28:34late in the
28:36evening yes anything else I've
28:40missed I don't believe so all right so
28:42tell us tell us where y'all ended up
28:45before before you started the game of
28:48hide and
28:49seek uh we were there I couldn't think
28:53of anything else possibly that I had to
28:56continue entertainment
28:58but I remember sitting at the end of the
29:02couch and him sitting in my son's one of
29:06my son's chairs that was in the living
29:07room and just kind of doing this like
29:11what are we going to do now like I very
29:13much would like to go to sleep had y'all
29:15had y'all finished off the
29:18uh that bottle that he had
29:21bought I don't remember to be honest
29:24with you bless you would it be fair to
29:26say that as the day wor on the more
29:29y'all
29:32consumed yes all right and would it be
29:34fair to say that as the day wore on the
29:38more you consumed the more the more
29:40effects you felt from the alcohol of
29:42course yes both both of you yes okay so
29:45you would agree would you not that at
29:48the time y'all were trying to figure out
29:51something to do and you put your head on
29:53the couch that y'all would it be fair to
29:55say that y'all were intoxicated
29:58yes tell the jury what
30:02happened um at one point I guess he knew
30:06that I couldn't come up with anything
30:08else um tapped me on my knee and said
30:10you're it so from there I ran up the
30:14stairs and hid
30:16into um our shower
30:20um just waiting for him to find me so we
30:24could hopefully go to sleep soon at some
30:26point and um
30:28now your shower is it uh is it a tub or
30:31just a Walkin it's a tub um but it's in
30:34the master bedroom and you have to go
30:36all the way upstairs you have to go in
30:37the bedroom and then you have to go into
30:38the bathroom part and then there's the
30:40shower part so did you lay down in the
30:42tub I at first at one point yes I was
30:45okay so you were
30:46hiding I was trying okay and did you
30:50believe that he was going to come try to
30:51find you
30:53yes did you
30:55wait yes for quite some time all right
30:58then what did you decide to do that I
31:01decided that I need to go to sleep I'm
31:03picking my son up the next day and we
31:06need to start wrapping up the evening um
31:10and I went downstairs to find where he
31:13was and what I think I think the jury
31:17has seen pictures of your would you call
31:20it an apartment or it's considered a
31:22town home a town home so you walk down
31:25the
31:26stairs right right mhm and at the bottom
31:30of the stairs is a bookshelf here yes at
31:33the very end of it yes okay so you
31:34walked down the stairs and you turn and
31:37look in the living room did you what did
31:39you
31:39see um I don't even think I made it all
31:42the way down the stairwell because I was
31:43just looking for him as soon as I could
31:45um to hopefully go upstairs as soon as
31:47we could and
31:50um I saw I looked over and I saw him
31:53settling himself in the suitcase all
31:55right tell us about the suitcase how how
31:57long is it an older suitcase yes who
32:00whose suitcase was it this is George's
32:02suitcase all right and did he use it for
32:05traveling back in forth to Philly yes I
32:08had uh recently taken him on a trip to
32:12go see his children in Pennsylvania who
32:14he hasn't seen in years and we took that
32:18with us and uh because of how
32:21dilapitated it was how broken it was um
32:24in the end after that trip we decided
32:26that we would donate it all right and uh
32:29I understand y'all kept y'all kept the
32:31suitcase upstairs yes how long did y'all
32:34keep it upstairs since we had moved
32:38in is there a is there a closet up there
32:41you kept it in yes it was in the master
32:43closet um the master bedroom closet all
32:46the way in the back because of um the
32:48size of it and there was nowhere to put
32:49it so all the way in the back so when
32:52did y'all decide to move it down from
32:54upstairs to downstairs was it that day
32:56or sometime earlier no it was
32:58um maybe a week or so prior okay and so
33:02what y'all were going
33:04to donate that to Goodwill or yes we
33:07were going to do I guess a spring
33:09cleaning um my anyone who has children
33:12understands that they grow quickly and
33:14there was a lot of clothes that I needed
33:17to um go through um of my sons and then
33:21also from George and I moving in and
33:24just kind of putting everything in there
33:25as you know at one point where we just
33:27need to to actually go through it and
33:28organize it and get things um more in
33:31order so is that the reason it was
33:34downstairs you were going to donate it
33:36and a bunch of things that you're going
33:37to put inside of it correct yes okay so
33:40it had been down there a week so it was
33:41already down there yes George brought it
33:43down okay so you said that you got down
33:46there you're looking for him you see him
33:48settling into the suitcase yes what did
33:51you
33:52do in my head I said oh man um we're
33:58obviously not going to be going to sleep
33:59anytime soon and
34:02um I walked over and um he was trying to
34:06get himself flat so I couldn't tell that
34:09he was in there and then now let me stop
34:11you there the suitcase is it the
34:13suitcase over here in the yes the Box
34:16you've seen it you saw it yes uh it's a
34:19pretty big suitcase yes how how big is
34:23George George was my height um and how
34:27tall are you you I'm 53 okay and how
34:31much did uh George weigh I I thought it
34:35was 100 PB okay and how much did you
34:38weigh um I was 98 PBS all right do you
34:42agree you you put on some way since I've
34:45haven't been incarcerated
34:46yes well at the time though y'all were
34:50y'all were pretty skinny yes so um from
34:55the pictures it looks like y'all were
34:56both pretty thin
34:58yes um all right so because of his
35:02thinness um is that how and and he's
35:05he's a small man yes okay so he was able
35:09to get in the suitcase on his own yes
35:11did he willingly get in the suitcase he
35:14was already in there okay when you got
35:16to him did he see you yes all right tell
35:19us what happened um I I
35:23mean I just kind of I zipped him up we
35:25thought it was funny and um were joking
35:28about how he was I guess small enough to
35:31fit inside of the
35:33suitcase all right so what
35:36happened um from there it was just um we
35:41were laughing about it and
35:44um it was just strange that he was small
35:49enough to fit in there and then um I
35:52kind of moved it around a little bit
35:55with him in the suitcase still it was
35:57still funny that he was still in the
35:59suitcase just I think he and I were just
36:03kind
36:05of couldn't believe that he was he could
36:07fit in the
36:08suitcase did you eventually close the
36:11top yes in order for well the top was
36:14already closed as he was settling
36:17himself in there it was that's how I
36:18knew he was in there was because the top
36:20was kind of flopping a little bit so he
36:23had got in there to hide and he pulled
36:25the top yes on top of but you could tell
36:27he was
36:28yes you saw him right away yes all right
36:30so at some point did you zip him up did
36:35you and what was he saying or doing when
36:37you were zipping him up we just thought
36:39it was funny um were you both laughing
36:42MH
36:44yes and um so you zipped him up were
36:48yall still laughing once you zipped him
36:49up yes okay tell us tell the jury what
36:52happened then um from there I just I
36:55moved the suitcase around uh a couple of
36:58times just kind of with on the wheels
37:01and moved it around and um at that point
37:05it was still it was funny we were joking
37:07and laughing about it all right now
37:10eventually did you go sit down on the
37:14couch and get your
37:16phone um yes um the I miss
37:19something
37:21um well I the suitcase had um
37:28when me moving it around had flopped was
37:31flopped over so while it was like that I
37:34thought at that point I had a moment
37:39to I guess take the time to talk to him
37:44while I guess he was not able to get out
37:49for a moment so you flipped
37:51it you got you got it on the top right
37:54it gets in but at some point you flip it
37:56over so
37:58the zipper is on the bottom well it was
38:00just kind of how I was moving it around
38:02and it ended up kind of flopping so it
38:05was upside down
38:07yes so after you did that what did you
38:10do um that's when I I went over and
38:14decided to um videotape
38:19to just see the um I guess the the
38:24justest in it for him to understand that
38:30right now I feel safe and right now I
38:31have the ability to actually speak to
38:34you um in a manner that normally I would
38:37not have the ability to do and you were
38:41intoxicated yes and you would agree that
38:46you said some things you should not
38:50yes but you you realized he could not
38:52get out and get at you is that fair at
38:55that moment yes so so it goes on for
38:58about 10
39:00minutes um yes did you heard it here
39:03today did you not yes you heard you
39:06heard his voice as he was speaking from
39:09the suitcase yes that was his voice on
39:11the video and audio yes and you heard
39:14your voice on the video and audio yes
39:17that was your voice yes all those things
39:20said by the man were said by George in
39:23that two-minute video correct all the
39:25words said by the female were said by
39:28you in that two-minute video correct
39:30were you intending on showing him the
39:32video the next
39:33day
39:35yes at the time or the next day is it
39:39fair to say you don't even remember
39:40videotape I do not okay
39:45so from what you can tell from watching
39:48it did that refresh your memory about
39:50that event I
39:55did why did you say
40:26that
40:56e
41:26e e
42:00Mr Owens you may
42:08proceed all right I'm talking about just
42:10the two-minute video part that
42:13recorded could you just tell the
42:18jury what you were feeling what your
42:20feelings were at the time and then
42:24explain just explain that to the jury
42:28you mentioned you talked about it before
42:30you said he was in that confined space
42:32and it was my chance but is that do you
42:34want to elaborate on that or sure
42:37I I want you all to know that I the
42:40majority of the time am always afraid
42:42and always scared all right
42:45well I understand that okay I understand
42:49that but um would it be fair to say
42:54that you had some anger at that point I
42:57did I would it be fair to say that you
43:00wanted to tell him off to some degree I
43:02just wanted yes for him to have a better
43:06understanding um which was the whole
43:07point of the videos and documentation
43:10prior and you could tell that he was
43:14uncomfortable I'm
43:16guessing and did did you want him to
43:19feel some
43:21uncomfort I did okay
43:27now at some
43:29point you turned off the video
43:32yes and then we
43:35saw a second video which was
43:38approximately 11 minutes later and
43:40you've seen that video that was played
43:41to the jury it was 22 seconds long yes
43:45and I don't think you speak in that
43:46video you hear George say Sarah one time
43:50yes is that fair to say
43:52yes so between the two-minute video
43:57and the 22 second video is an 11 minute
44:01period would you tell the jury what
44:03happened um we continue
44:06to I guess speak to one another
44:10and um his tone changed and
44:16I knew the tone and um we ended up I
44:21guess arguing back and forth with one
44:23another and
44:29it
44:30was the things that he was saying um
44:33very much frightened me and um cursing
44:36at me and threatening me and did he want
44:41you to let him out of the
44:43Su um I'm I'm sure so okay go ahead tell
44:48tell the um and it just got it got very
44:51heated very quickly and he continued to
44:55push on the suitcase
44:57and um my fear was that he was going to
45:00break out of the suitcase knowing that
45:02it was a broken
45:03suitcase and
45:06um his hand started to come through his
45:09his hand started to come through this
45:11way and so I shook the suitcase I shook
45:15the suitcase trying to get his hand to
45:16go back in shaking it and telling him
45:20that please stop doing this please
45:22please stop doing this to me please stop
45:24doing this to me so his hand his hand
45:27actually got out of the suitcase yes and
45:29you went to the suitcase yes and shook
45:31it yes did that Force his hand to go
45:34back in
45:36no um so you're shaking it were you
45:39shaking it to try to get the suitcase
45:41his hand back in yes how long did you
45:44shake it I don't know but his hand was
45:47still out yes was he trying to get out
45:51forcefully yes was he angry at you yes
46:00were you in
46:01fear
46:04always if he would have gotten out of
46:06the
46:07suitcase what would he have done to
46:10you like he used to tell me he probably
46:13would have made me unrecognizable or I
46:15would have uh lost my
46:20life did you lose the grip on the
46:23suitcas yes
46:27where was the bat in relation to the
46:29suitcase um it was um leaning up against
46:33the dining room table right
46:37there how far was the bat from the
46:41suitcase 3 feet 2
46:44feet was the sand still out of the
46:47suitcase yes and was he getting out of
46:49the suitcase he very much was trying yes
46:53and so what did you do for the Split
46:56Second reaction that I had I happened to
46:58see that and I grabbed the baseball bat
47:01and was trying to poke his hand to go
47:04back in to please don't go don't break
47:06through please so I hit his
47:09hand did you
47:11hit the outside part of his hand yes
47:15we've seen the photographs of his left
47:17hand did you cause the bruising there
47:20I'm guessing
47:22yes now you've seen the bat
47:28it's a a Ed B yes I bought it for my
47:33son is this the bat you used
47:38yes
47:40and you said you poked him with it yes I
47:44I kind of
47:45pushed um like I held it with the skinny
47:49part here and then so so the grip here
47:52proed at it yes you grabed you you
47:55grabbed it with both hands here yes
47:57and then the barrel of the bat the big
47:59part of the bat is here correct and you
48:02thrusted it into this different areas of
48:06the suitcase I started with his hand and
48:08his hand he was still trying to get out
48:10he was still trying to do that so I
48:13started to push on the suitcase around
48:17it hoping to have his hand retract and
48:20go back inside
48:31you made those
48:32injuries I
48:34did we've seen the photographs yes we
48:37see the the bruising is that from that
48:40bat
48:44yes
48:47eventually did his hand go back inside
48:50from you
48:52doing yes finally he had had subsided
48:56and retracted his hand so in your mind
48:59did you prevent him from attacking you
49:01absolutely Split Second decision now
49:04once he retracted his
49:06hand did you remember zipping it up some
49:10or what did you do in relation CU he he
49:12was upside down was he not at that point
49:16yes at some point you flipped him back
49:18up I did tell tell how that
49:22happened he
49:24wasn't cursing he was wasn't threatening
49:27he his hand was inside foremost there
49:30was no more of him trying to break
49:32through the
49:33suitcase so I
49:38felt safe enough to turn it back over it
49:43wasn't it wasn't happening
49:49anymore you went back to the video and
49:52the
49:54couch I did yes
49:57and we saw the second video yes the 222
50:00and he's right side up again yes and you
50:04hear him say
50:06Sarah
50:08yes had you left enough room for him to
50:11get out zipper to zipper yes that's how
50:15his hand was trying that that suitcase
50:18has two zippers doesn't it and they meet
50:20at various places along the line correct
50:27how much room when you flipped it over
50:29how much room was between zipper to
50:33zipper I don't know specifically I mean
50:36it was enough to where his hand was
50:38coming
50:41out after you had hit him with a bat was
50:43he not trying to get out anymore
50:49no did you believe that he could breathe
50:51in there yes did you ever believe he
50:55could die in there no at all were you
50:59trying to kill him never did you want to
51:03kill him I did
51:15not did you walk
51:18upstairs I did yes want didn't you let
51:21him out before you walked
51:25upstairs will you
51:28afraid terrified is more of the
51:32word as long as he was in the suitcase
51:35he couldn't
51:36harm
51:43right when
51:50he's did you want him to calm
51:53down yes I wanted him to stop being
51:57angry because I know what it is for him
51:58to be
52:00angry you went
52:03upstairs where were the
52:05dogs the dogs ran upstairs with
52:09me and where did they
52:11go um on the
52:19bed did you have the phone with
52:21you yes I know at some point you called
52:25your husband Brian did you you not I
52:29did do you recall how long that
52:31conversation was not very
52:37long can you recall what was
52:40it I don't remember exactly no I don't
53:09Miss Bo Sarah Bo you said that U when he
53:13was in the suitcase he was threatening
53:15her threatening you can you tell the
53:18jury what he was
53:22saying I don't know am I allowed to
53:24curse
53:28yes um that he was going to [ __ ] end
53:31me and
53:34it that's what made me ask him please to
53:38stop doing what he's doing to me
53:41that he was going to I'm guessing try
53:45his best that night to probably take my
53:47life but
53:49what the the threat you heard was he's
53:53he's going
53:54to say say and me excuse me [ __ ] and
53:59me and you
54:06yes yes
54:17sir judge can we approach a bench
54:25yes
54:55e e
55:32all right members of the jury it is 2:14
55:35I have a matter that I have to discuss
55:37with councel at this point in time
55:38outside of your presence so I'm going to
55:40ask you to retire to the deliberation
55:41room we'll bring you back in as promptly
55:43as possible again similar instruction
55:45that I've given you please do not
55:47conduct any independent investigation or
55:49research as the person places things or
55:51charge involved and do not do not have
55:54any discussions among yourselves or
55:55anyone else about those things we'll
55:57bring you back in as promptly as
55:58possible thank you
56:31[Applause]
56:37you all may be seated thank
56:42you state you can proceed with any
56:45argument at this point in
56:50time judge I believe that's pretty close
56:52to what we already knew from the
56:53deposition
56:55testimony uh from the doctors relaying
56:57what she said for the profer what we
57:00have here is testimony from the
57:01defendant um her timeline is she comes
57:05downstairs after having gone up to the
57:08shower and hiding laying down um after
57:11being declared to be it she comes back
57:14downstairs and before she gets back to
57:16the bottom of the stairwell she can see
57:20that um the victim is in the suitcase
57:22trying to get flat uh because the lid is
57:25flopping
57:26and he's not he's not hidden just yet um
57:31and so she comes over and I believe she
57:33testified she was moving it around
57:35before actually zipping the lid shut but
57:38moving it around everybody's laughing
57:40it's all fun and game still and then she
57:42Zips it and it's still fun and
57:45games and everybody's laughing and then
57:48at this point she testifies that this is
57:51now her opportunity to get on her Pulpit
57:54to express her true feelings about
57:56everything and that's when she sits down
57:59on the couch and opens up her phone
58:01device and begins recording what later
58:04turns out to be IMG uh10 62. movie at
58:0911245 for 2 minutes and 3 seconds during
58:13this period of time the deant is
58:16expressing um meekly that he can't
58:19breathe uh the only time he ever curses
58:22at her is there I can't [ __ ] breathe
58:25babe I can't [ __ ] breathe
58:27um he is demonstrating under the law
58:30that he is in fear uh of losing his life
58:35um she has committed an aggravated
58:37assault she has committed false
58:39imprisonment she was the initial
58:41aggressor there was no overt act to
58:44justify these actions that she took
58:46against her
58:47boyfriend she then goes on to say that
58:50during this period of time between the
58:52end of the movie at
58:5411448 second
58:56and before the next one starts at
59:0011:23 that it's now at this time while
59:03he's still constrained and clearly
59:06unable to get out under his own power
59:08despite having his hand out um she
59:11begins beating him with a bat um poking
59:14his hands poking the suitcase with a
59:17deadly weapon a bat is used for baseball
59:20but it can also be used to harm another
59:22person and according to the medical
59:24examiner's testimony there was great
59:26harm caused to him deep osis
59:30bruises
59:32um she can't start to do this out of
59:34fear like the analogy I gave earlier if
59:37I pull a gun to rob you judge and you
59:39pull a gun I can't shoot you in
59:41self-defense she she started this she
59:44started this there was no overt act um
59:47and therefore um we're asking for you to
59:50prevent under the case law uh any prior
59:54instances of violence
59:56um any reputation evidence and any
59:58battered spouse syndrome evidence um
1:00:00because that's simply just what the case
1:00:02ended up being thank you
1:00:11response judge this was a
1:00:14game by two intoxicated people when
1:00:18people are drunk and intoxicated they do
1:00:21silly and stupid
1:00:24things the evidence is
1:00:27uncontroverted that George Torres
1:00:29willingly by his own choice elected to
1:00:32hide in the
1:00:35suitcase by their interaction between
1:00:38the two of them giggling and laughing at
1:00:40each other he consented to her zipping
1:00:44up the
1:00:46suitcase and the playful nature of what
1:00:48was going on during those few minutes
1:00:52prior to the
1:00:54video when the video was turned
1:00:58on there's a two-minute period
1:01:01where they're talking he's saying I need
1:01:05to get out I can't breathe she's not
1:01:08taking him seriously as you've seen from
1:01:09the videos I thought it was the boy
1:01:12crying
1:01:13wolf she did not
1:01:15appreciate the fact that he could be
1:01:18actually having trouble
1:01:21breathing and this was a chance for him
1:01:24to be heard by her about how she felt
1:01:27about some things involving their
1:01:33relationship short time later the video
1:01:35was turned off and then that period has
1:01:38been testified to by my client and that
1:01:41period is uncontrived that's a second
1:01:44period of time we've got that time for
1:01:47the video we got the 11 minutes that we
1:01:49got the 22
1:01:50seconds and there's no video there's no
1:01:53audio there's no eyewitness there's
1:01:55nothing but Sarah 's testimony and she's
1:01:57testified here
1:01:59today that they had
1:02:02words there were threats he got his hand
1:02:06out of the
1:02:07suitcase she knew by the threats and him
1:02:10getting his hand out of the suitcase
1:02:12that he was about to get out of the
1:02:13suitcase and he was going to hurt
1:02:19her a reasonable person under that
1:02:24scenario would believe
1:02:26he she was about to be harmed she was an
1:02:28imminent threat of
1:02:31harm she blocked that attack by grabbing
1:02:35the bat hitting his hand when that
1:02:38didn't work she started poking him with
1:02:41the bat in the suitcase eventually she
1:02:44poked him several times he put his hand
1:02:47inside the
1:02:48suitcase she put the bat up when she
1:02:51realized he was not going to do that any
1:02:53further she flipped him over right side
1:02:57up she still had a fear knowing that if
1:03:01he got
1:03:03out she would be harmed he would beat
1:03:06her up she went
1:03:08upstairs that is an overt act based on
1:03:12the discussions coupled with the fact
1:03:14that he threatened her using the word
1:03:18I'm going to [ __ ] end it for you or
1:03:20some words to that effect I don't
1:03:21remember her exact words just before she
1:03:23went upstairs while he was still in the
1:03:25suitcase
1:03:27if she would have let him out and this
1:03:29is a CRI now now this is an event
1:03:31involving an Omission failure to Act
1:03:34fail to unzip him at that point before
1:03:37she went upstairs the failure to act the
1:03:40fail to unzip which would have let him
1:03:42out um which would
1:03:50have created a situation that she
1:03:54believed was imminent bodily harm to
1:03:58herself and I guess I'll get a couple of
1:04:02examples um let's
1:04:06say that a police officer is called to a
1:04:10scene and the only thing he hears is uh
1:04:14there is a suspect and the suspect may
1:04:17be armed so of course the officer pulls
1:04:19out his revolver and he's walking around
1:04:21well then eventually he finds the
1:04:23suspect and the suspect reaches for his
1:04:27waste the officer doesn't see the
1:04:30gun but the officer sees the movement to
1:04:33the
1:04:33waist the officer fires and shoots the
1:04:37suspect the officer is Justified because
1:04:40there's an immediate threat of
1:04:44harm the officer has to react
1:04:47instinctively there is no time to
1:04:50think similar to the actions that Sarah
1:04:54boom had to take
1:04:57another example you're in a bar with
1:04:59your buddies and you've had something to
1:05:01drink and another group has had
1:05:02something to drink and one of your
1:05:04buddies gets into an argument with one
1:05:06of the buddies on the other
1:05:08party and one of your friends seeing
1:05:10that it's being escalated and the the
1:05:13guy that's arguing with your buddy is
1:05:15aggressive more aggressive than your
1:05:17buddy is your buddy's trying to settle
1:05:19the thing but this other individual
1:05:21maybe he's had too much to drink and
1:05:23he's more aggressive so you go around
1:05:27behind this individual and before he's
1:05:29able to strike your buddy you grab him
1:05:33you lock him
1:05:35up that's physical restraint to block an
1:05:40attack or you grab him by the neck and
1:05:44you choke
1:05:45him physical restraint to block an
1:05:51attack that's what she was doing with
1:05:53the suitcase
1:05:56if she let him out of the suitcase she
1:05:58was going to be harmed based on him
1:06:01trying to get out with his hand based on
1:06:03the threats he made while he had his
1:06:05hand out and based on the threats he
1:06:07made while he's had his hand inside just
1:06:09before she went
1:06:11upstairs thank you Court's going to
1:06:13re-review all the case law that it's
1:06:15obtained in its research in this matter
1:06:17and come back with a oral ruling
1:06:18momentarily thank you

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