ORLANDO, Fla. (Court TV) — She said she wasn’t looking to replace her attorney, but it appears that Sarah Boone may have no choice in the matter, as her attorney has asked to be removed from her case.
Sarah Boone smiles as she leaves court on June 7, 2024. (Court TV)
Boone is charged with the second-degree murder of her boyfriend, Jorge Torres, who died after Boone zipped him into a suitcase. While the cause of his death is not in question, Boone has maintained that Torres’ death was accidental and the result of a game of hide-and-seek that went wrong after a night of drinking.
WATCH | Sarah Boone’s Letters From Jail
Days after a hearing on June 7 where she represented Boone, Patricia Cashman is now the eighth attorney to file a motion asking to withdraw from the case. The request, filed Tuesday, cites irreconcilable differences “including, but not limited to, ethical considerations.”
While Cashman represented Boone on Friday at the hearing, it was clear there were problems when Boone gave the judge a 58-page letter and complained about what she described as ongoing issues with her representation.
“I’ve never experienced anyone like Ms. Cashman,” Boone told the judge on Friday. “She will change her disposition and her attitude towards me, and it doesn’t matter how dumbed-down I am to myself to try to coexist with her. I’ve even come up with the solution to have a pretend judge in interactions with her so she would try hopefully to treat me appropriately and professionally, which she does not do.”
Boone has had complaints about nearly all of her previous attorneys, with her sixth attorney, Frank Bankowitz, withdrawing from her case after she called him a “dud” and a “buffoon.” Her seventh attorney withdrew after Boone sent a number of letters to the Court complaining about her ability to talk to counsel.
Cashman said at Friday’s hearing she had spent hours with her client, even accepting collect calls, but that Boone had refused to cooperate with her. “I’ve spent over 20 hours going through her questions, going through her lists,” Cashman told the Court. “When I try to update her with regard to the depositions that I took recently, she opted to exit the jail conference. When I tried to review some things with regard to discovery as to things I wanted to make sure she was aware of, she walked out.”
READ MORE | Judge rules on Sarah Boone’s request to be unshackled at trial
Boone admitted to walking out of the meetings, but denied wanting a new attorney, instead asking the judge to “just let her know, please, to please be nice to me and have a welcoming attitude.”
Cashman seemed to acknowledge the potential for this scenario on Friday. “I can’t spend all my time defending what I’m doing and at the same time be effectively preparing a case for trial.” Cashman suggested the judge either tell Boone to represent herself or offer one last attorney. “The court can only go through this so many times with Ms. Boone coming to the court and there ending up being irreconcilable differences such that the counsel that you have appointed can’t move forward,” Cashman said.
No hearing on the motion has been scheduled. Boone’s trial is scheduled for Oct. 7, 2024.
