ORLANDO, Fla. (Court TV) — It’s a familiar situation for Sarah Boone: another attorney has asked to be removed from her case.
Sarah Boone describes Jorge Torres Jr.’s hand coming out of the suitcase during her trial at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, Fla., Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (POOL/Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)
Boone is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of her boyfriend, Jorge Torres Jr., who died after being zipped into a suitcase and beaten during a game of hide-and-seek in February 2020.
While Boone has indicated she wants to appeal her conviction, she has been unable to file the necessary paperwork, in part because she has not been in contact with her attorney. Weeks after filing a formal inquiry into the status of her appeal, her appointed attorney has asked to withdraw from the case.
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Joshua Adams had been representing Boone in her appeal since he was appointed on Dec. 18, 2024, just weeks after Boone was sentenced. Adams was the second appellate attorney to represent Boone; the first attorney appointed to represent her in her appeal, Allen Holland, was replaced after just 16 days with no reason publicly given.
In his motion to withdraw from the case, Adams said that he is “no longer practicing appellate work or accepting court-appointed appellate cases, which would make continued representation a hardship.”
Boone had complained about Adams’ lack of response to her repeated attempts to contact him in her five-page inquiry filed with the court. She stated that Adams introduced himself to her via inmate messaging on February 27, 2025, but had since failed to respond to phone calls, handwritten letters, and emails from third-party representatives.
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Boone is no stranger to changing attorneys. In the years and months preceding her trial, she was represented by eight attorneys before Judge Michael Kraynick ruled she forfeited her right to counsel and would have to represent herself. James Owens stepped in at the last minute and volunteered to act as her attorney during the trial.
Boone has until Sept. 1 to file the appeal.
