Watch Suitcase Murder Trial with Fubo
Plans start at $79.99/mo
Additional taxes, fees and regional restrictions may apply.
Suitcase Murder Trial
Alcoholism. That's how Sarah Boone's defense began their opening statements. Her lead attorney James Owens told jurors about the alcohol addiction she and her Jorge Torres dealt with and how it often mixed in with domestic violence. Owens argued that the suitcase Torres was zipped in was a physical restraint to block a potential attack in Boone's attempt at self-defense. Domestic violence was a running theme in the relationship between the defendant and the victim.
S1, EP26 "State's Rebuttal Case"
Mental health was a big topic in this trial. Sarah Boone's legal team relied heavily on the diagnosis she received in a full psychological evaluation conducted on her-weeks after she was arrested for the second-degree murder of her boyfriend. Next, on the stand was the State's forensic psychiatrist who evaluated the defendant in jail. Dr. Tonia Werner agreed with the defense expert's diagnosis that Boone did, indeed, suffer from battered woman's syndrome in her relationship with Jorge Torres.
S1, EP27 "Symptoms Of A Battered Woman"
The State's forensic psychiatrist continued answering probing questions under cross-examination. Boone's defense team was challenging her mental health report that dismissed the idea that her diagnosis of battered women's syndrome was what led her to kill her boyfriend in self-defense. Next, prosecutors delivered police bodycam footage that brought in some nuance to the troubled relationship between the defendant and the victim over the years.
S1, EP28 "The Police Bodycam Footage"
Police bodycam video dominated the State's rebuttal case. During the defendant's unstable relationship with Jorge Torres, police arrived several times over domestic abuse allegations. Sometimes they both would be arrested and booked. These domestic calls involving Sarah Boone and Jorge Torres was the theme in the prosecution's rebuttal. For the first time, Torres' perspective was captured on camera.
S1, EP25 "Explaining The Mental Health Diagnosis"
Cross-examination continued on Dr. Julie Harper, a forensic psychologist, who evaluated Sarah Boone. Her diagnosis concluded that she was a victim of intimate partner violence in her unstable relationship with Jorge Torres. Dr. Harper told jurors that the defendant dealt with a mental health disorders exacerbated by her abusive boyfriend, Jorge Torres. Dr. Harper was the last witness before the Defense rested their case to jurors.
