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

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: State, do you recognize our jury? [00:00:06] Speaker 2: Yes, Your Honor. [00:00:07] Speaker 1: Defense, do you recognize our jury? All right, thank you. You all can be seated. Members of the jury, after seated and comfortable, if you could raise your hands to confirm that you complied with the court's instructions during the break. Rec will reflect all hands have been raised. With that, the state has rested. The defense is going to put on a case. Defense, Mr. Owens, you can call your first witness. [00:00:29] Speaker 3: The defense would call Sarah Boone. [00:00:47] Speaker 1: All right, ma'am, you can take a seat, and if you could, state and spell your name for the record for us. [00:00:58] Speaker 4: Sarah Boone, 10-10-7-7. [00:01:01] Speaker 1: And could you spell your name? [00:01:03] Speaker 4: S-A-R-A-H-E-O-O-N-E. [00:01:07] Speaker 1: All right, thank you very much. Sir, you may inquire. [00:01:09] Speaker 3: Ms. Boone, would you please tell the jury where you were born and raised? [00:01:14] Speaker 4: Atlanta, Georgia. [00:01:16] Speaker 3: You were born in Atlanta? [00:01:17] Speaker 4: We're in Atlanta. [00:01:18] Speaker 3: And how long did you stay in Atlanta before you moved here to Florida? [00:01:22] Speaker 4: I was three years old. I was three years old, three or four. [00:01:25] Speaker 3: Okay. And from that time, you all moved, you and your family, your mother and father moved to Orlando? [00:01:32] Speaker 4: And my grandparents. [00:01:33] Speaker 3: Okay. You all moved down from Atlanta down to Orlando? [00:01:37] Speaker 4: Yes, and my two brothers. [00:01:38] Speaker 3: Okay. And were you raised here essentially from that time on? [00:01:43] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:01:44] Speaker 3: And you resided here in Orange County, Florida that entire time? [00:01:47] Speaker ?: Yes. [00:01:47] Speaker 3: Okay. And did you go to high school here locally? [00:01:51] Speaker 4: I did. [00:01:52] Speaker 3: Where did you go to high school? [00:01:53] Speaker 4: Edgewater. [00:01:54] Speaker 3: Okay. And tell the jury, how old were you when you graduated? [00:01:58] Speaker 4: I was 18 years old. [00:02:00] Speaker 3: Now, I know you lost your mother and father. Overruled. I know you lost your mother and father in your teens and in your 20s. Is that true? [00:02:09] Speaker 4: I lost my grandfather when I was a sophomore in high school, and I lost my father when I was a senior. And then my mother passed away a few years after that, and then my grandmother passed away after my mother died. [00:02:25] Speaker 3: So you were in your 20s when all that was going on? [00:02:28] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:02:28] Speaker 3: Okay. And then at some point in your 20s, you met Brian Boone? [00:02:34] Speaker 4: I did, yes. [00:02:35] Speaker 3: All right. And how long did you all date before you married? [00:02:41] Speaker 4: A good handful of years. I helped my family with paying mortgage and bills for the house since my father had passed away and my grandfather. [00:02:51] Speaker 3: So you worked outside the home? [00:02:54] Speaker 4: I did. [00:02:55] Speaker 3: Okay. Can you tell the jury when you said you and Brian Boone dated for a while? Do you remember when y'all married? [00:03:04] Speaker 4: I do. [00:03:05] Speaker 3: Could you tell the jury when y'all were married? [00:03:07] Speaker 4: The year? [00:03:08] Speaker 3: Yeah. Do you remember the date? [00:03:11] Speaker 4: It happened to be, yes, that after my mother passed away, that he had waited to ask me to marry him because he knew it would be. Objection, non-responsive. [00:03:21] Speaker 3: Sustained. Just answer the question if you can, Ms. Boone. Are you a little bit nervous? [00:03:27] Speaker 4: A little bit. [00:03:27] Speaker 3: Okay. Well, just tell the jury if you remember the date that you and Brian Boone married. [00:03:33] Speaker 4: August 21st, 2004. [00:03:34] Speaker 3: Okay. And had y'all lived with each other for a short time before that? [00:03:39] Speaker 4: Short time. [00:03:40] Speaker 3: Yes. Okay. After you married, how long was it before y'all had any children? [00:03:47] Speaker 4: Gosh. Six years. Okay. [00:03:51] Speaker 3: And y'all have one son? [00:03:53] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:03:54] Speaker 3: What's his name? [00:03:55] Speaker 4: Lucas. [00:03:56] Speaker 3: And how old is Lucas now? [00:03:57] Speaker 4: Lucas will be 14 years old on the 28th. [00:04:00] Speaker 3: 28th of this month? [00:04:01] Speaker ?: Yes. Okay. [00:04:03] Speaker 3: So you and Brian were married and y'all lived in Orange County. How long were y'all married? [00:04:10] Speaker 4: For 13 years. [00:04:12] Speaker 3: All right. And y'all divorced? [00:04:14] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:04:15] Speaker 3: And as part of the divorce, were y'all to share custody of your son? [00:04:18] Speaker ?: Yes. [00:04:20] Speaker 3: And so y'all had split days? Would that be fair to say? [00:04:23] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:04:24] Speaker ?: Okay. [00:04:25] Speaker 3: At some time after you and Brian split up, did you meet George Torres? [00:04:31] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:04:32] Speaker 3: All right. Could you tell the jury how you met George Torres? [00:04:35] Speaker 4: I met George when I decided to buck up, I guess, and was tired of trying to patch things up with my ex-husband. And I decided to go one day for a walk across the street and go have a beer by myself and sit and people watch just to get out of my house and a change of scenery. [00:05:01] Speaker 3: All right. All right. Now, is this your apartment? [00:05:04] Speaker 4: No, this is the marital home. [00:05:06] Speaker 3: Okay. Where is that marital home? [00:05:10] Speaker 4: Winter Park. [00:05:11] Speaker 3: You're no longer living in that marital home? [00:05:13] Speaker 4: No. [00:05:14] Speaker 3: Who lives in the marital home? [00:05:16] Speaker 4: No, when it has been sold. [00:05:17] Speaker 3: Okay. So this, you met George Torres before you got the apartment? [00:05:23] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:05:23] Speaker 3: Okay. And you met him at a bar across the street from the marital home? [00:05:28] Speaker 4: Yes. We had a mutual friend there. [00:05:30] Speaker 3: Were you introduced? [00:05:31] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:05:32] Speaker 3: All right. How did you and George get along when you all first met? [00:05:39] Speaker 4: Very well. It was strange how quickly we hit things off and had so much in common. And I never thought that he would be interested in someone like me. And I just couldn't believe that he was actually interested in me and said a lot of nice things. And one hour ended up being four hours from when we had first met. And then we would always have something to talk about. [00:06:12] Speaker 3: Why couldn't you believe that he would be interested in you? [00:06:18] Speaker 4: He was very handsome. He was very funny. He was smart. And I would show up in workout clothes and disheveled hair. And I guess I kind of felt broken from being in the process of the divorce that he knew about. But then one of the things that we could relate also was the fact that he was here in Florida because he had just been divorced from his second wife. So that was another topic that he and I could compare notes on. [00:06:49] Speaker 3: So eventually the divorce was settled. Did you get your own place? Is it fair to say that after you at first you lived in your parents' home, correct? [00:07:07] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:07:07] Speaker 3: Until I was married. And then you moved directly in with Brian. [00:07:10] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:07:11] Speaker 3: And then you all lived in the marital home, correct? [00:07:13] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:07:14] Speaker 3: And then you got this apartment. [00:07:16] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:07:17] Speaker 3: So that was the first time in your life that you actually had your own place. [00:07:20] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:07:21] Speaker 3: And what was the address? [00:07:23] Speaker 4: 47-48 France Court, apartment number three. [00:07:27] Speaker 3: And what city is that in? [00:07:28] Speaker 4: It's in Winter Park. [00:07:30] Speaker 3: How far is that from here? [00:07:32] Speaker 4: 20 minutes. [00:07:33] Speaker 3: Okay. So you got that apartment and initially were you by yourself? [00:07:41] Speaker 4: No. [00:07:41] Speaker 3: Tell the jury. [00:07:45] Speaker 4: In the almost year, about 10 months of separation from Brian, my ex-husband, that is the time when I met George. And my ex-husband was trying to buy me out or force me out of our marital home. And I needed to find somewhere to live. [00:08:04] Speaker 3: So did you and George agree to rent the apartment? [00:08:08] Speaker 4: Yes. One of the, I needed extra income. We could not afford it, just on my own. [00:08:15] Speaker 3: You were receiving some income from the marriage settlement, were you not? [00:08:20] Speaker ?: Yes. [00:08:20] Speaker 3: So you did have consistent monthly income coming in from the marriage settlement? [00:08:27] Speaker 4: For the most part, yes. [00:08:28] Speaker 3: But you needed more to live? [00:08:32] Speaker 4: Yes, to pay the bills and for rent. [00:08:34] Speaker 3: So did you and George have some agreement? [00:08:36] Speaker 4: We did. [00:08:36] Speaker 3: All right. What was the agreement? [00:08:38] Speaker 4: The agreement was that if I decided for he and I to live with one another, because it would be under my name, that he would help with the monthly bills and on a regular basis where it wouldn't be something that I would have to argue with him about. It would just be an automatic, make sure that everything's paid first and then from there, hopefully have some fun with it. [00:09:00] Speaker 3: Okay. So I understand from that point on, would it be fair to say that y'all saw each other on and off for about the next three and a half years? [00:09:15] Speaker 4: No, we were, I would consider us a couple. At some point he asked me to marry him. [00:09:24] Speaker 3: Okay. But y'all, y'all did have times where he left and went to live with his parents. Yes. Is that, is that fair? [00:09:29] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:09:30] Speaker 3: And there were times where there was an understanding that y'all were going to break up? [00:09:38] Speaker 4: Multiple times. [00:09:39] Speaker 3: Okay. All right. So again, on again, off again. [00:09:46] Speaker 4: Yes. This was actually before we had our apartment. That was, I guess, our dating phase. [00:09:53] Speaker 3: Okay. So y'all were together for three and a half years. Is that fair? [00:09:58] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:09:58] Speaker 3: And y'all had actually agreed to marry? [00:10:02] Speaker 4: He had asked me yes a couple of times to marry him, and one time I agreed to yes. [00:10:08] Speaker 3: Okay. Now, I want to get directly to the date of this event so that the jury can hear your testimony. All right. So tell us, I believe the date is February the 23rd of 2020. Explain to the jury that whole day, from the time y'all got up, the whole thing. Approach. [00:11:02] Speaker ?: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. [00:11:41] Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you. [00:11:42] Speaker ?: Thank you. Thank you. [00:11:46] Speaker 3: Now, Ms. Boone, let's just, instead of one long speech, let me break you up over the course of the day. So, do you remember the date of February 23rd, 2020? [00:11:58] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:11:59] Speaker 3: Do you remember getting up? [00:12:01] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:12:02] Speaker 3: All right. [00:12:02] Speaker ?: All right. [00:12:02] Speaker 3: Just tell the jury about that morning, what y'all did that morning, what you and George, George, you and George spent the night together at the apartment. [00:12:09] Speaker 4: Yes, at that point he was living there. [00:12:11] Speaker 3: So, y'all slept in the bed together, upstairs, February, so you got, you would have gotten up, y'all would have gotten up that morning, February 23rd of 2020? [00:12:22] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:12:23] Speaker 3: Yes. All right. Tell the jury what happened when y'all got up. [00:12:26] Speaker 4: He was already downstairs and I went downstairs and he wanted to start the day off by drinking because it was a day off from his job. And I talked him into cleaning and tidying up the house for a sense of accomplishment. So that is what we did for however long that it took. So we did tidy up the house and got everything in order and it was kind of a reward, I guess, to be able to sit and enjoy ourselves and sit on the back porch. [00:13:04] Speaker 3: All right. What do you mean by cleaning up the house? What did y'all do? [00:13:07] Speaker 4: We swept and mopped. We folded some of the laundry. I know that we did the dishes, emptied the dishwasher, just general run-of-the-mill tidying up. [00:13:19] Speaker 3: And did you have your son coming the next day? [00:13:22] Speaker 4: Yes. That was one of the reasons why we were able to do that. [00:13:25] Speaker 3: What was the arrangement you had in terms of the next day would have been your day to pick up your son from school? Yes. What time would you pick Lucas up from school the next day? [00:13:35] Speaker 4: I believe his school ended at three o'clock. [00:13:37] Speaker 3: Okay. So you would have been responsible to pick him up and he would be spending the night with you that night? Yes. Do you have the house nice and clean? [00:13:45] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:13:46] Speaker 3: How many bedrooms are in the home? Two. And you and George had one bedroom? Yes. And who had the other? [00:13:54] Speaker 4: Lucas. [00:13:55] Speaker 3: All right. Is that exclusively his bedroom? [00:13:57] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:13:58] Speaker 3: All right. So how long would it have taken you all that morning to clean? [00:14:03] Speaker 4: Yes. I don't really remember what time we woke up, but maybe a good two, maybe three hours. Okay. [00:14:11] Speaker 3: And would it be fair to say that you and George both smoked cigarettes? Yes. And would it be fair to say that you and George both drink alcohol? [00:14:20] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:14:21] Speaker 3: All right. So at some point y'all finished your chores, right? Yes. And then y'all were going to enjoy the day? Yes. All right. [00:14:31] Speaker ?: What was the plan? [00:14:32] Speaker 4: It was just kind of, you know, we've got the day to ourselves, just kind of relax and go with the flow. All right. [00:14:40] Speaker 3: Did y'all make a decision that y'all were going to start drinking? [00:14:43] Speaker 4: Yes. He, we had a half of a bottle that was already in the refrigerator and I did not want to go out afterwards. I, again, had Lucas coming the next day. So we went over to Publix to purchase another bottle of wine so we could not have to go out later on that evening. [00:15:05] Speaker 3: Now you were here in court when the state played the video of you two and the Publix purchasing the bottle of wine? Yes. Is that what you're referring to here with the jury right now? [00:15:18] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:15:19] Speaker 3: Okay. And that was around noon-ish? [00:15:21] Speaker 4: I believe so, yes. [00:15:23] Speaker 3: Okay. Had y'all started drinking the leftover bottle before going to the Publix? No. Okay. So y'all bought a bottle of wine? Yes. All right. And how did y'all get to Publix? [00:15:37] Speaker 4: My car. [00:15:38] Speaker 3: How far is Publix from your apartment? [00:15:43] Speaker 4: Five minutes. [00:15:44] Speaker 3: How would you get there from your apartment? [00:15:46] Speaker 4: What do you mean? [00:15:48] Speaker 3: Did you have to go across any major highways or is it right there? [00:15:52] Speaker 4: You just come out of our apartment complex and you do a little U-turn and then you come up and it's right in that complex. [00:15:58] Speaker 3: Okay. But it's easier to drive than to walk? [00:16:01] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:16:02] Speaker 3: Okay. Now I know at some times y'all would simply need cigarettes and it was in walking distance. Can you tell the jury about that? [00:16:09] Speaker 4: Yes. There was a AutoZone convenience store in the same, I guess, parking lot of our townhome, our complex and it was just a straight shot from our apartment to a back gate and you could get right into the convenience store from right there. [00:16:28] Speaker 3: Okay. But y'all went over to get that bottle of wine around noon-ish and how did y'all, you took your car? Yes. Did George have a vehicle? [00:16:36] Speaker 4: He did not. [00:16:38] Speaker 3: Okay. And how did you pay for the wine? [00:16:40] Speaker 4: With my debit card. [00:16:42] Speaker 3: And then y'all came back and started drinking? Yes. Okay. Tell me what you did when you got back from the publics. [00:16:51] Speaker 4: Just went on the back porch where we usually spend our time because we're able to smoke cigarettes outside as opposed to inside. [00:17:00] Speaker 3: And... Is cigarette smoking not allowed indoors? It is not. Okay. Do you have pets? Yes, I did. Well, did you have pets? [00:17:09] Speaker 4: I did, yes. [00:17:10] Speaker 3: Okay. Were they with y'all there that day? [00:17:16] Speaker 4: Yes. My dogs were with me all the time when I was there. [00:17:19] Speaker 3: How many dogs do you have? I have two. And just what are their names? [00:17:24] Speaker 4: Penny and Tess. [00:17:26] Speaker 3: And what is the breed? [00:17:28] Speaker 4: They are Red Boston Terriers. [00:17:31] Speaker 3: And are they both disabled? [00:17:33] Speaker 4: Yes. Penny is blind and Tess is deaf. [00:17:37] Speaker ?: All right. [00:17:38] Speaker 3: So when y'all went out to smoke on the back porch and drink, I assume, as well, correct? [00:17:45] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:17:46] Speaker 3: Do y'all take the dogs out? [00:17:49] Speaker 4: Oh, yes. [00:17:50] Speaker 3: All right. Is there a place for them to do their business out there? [00:17:54] Speaker 4: Yes. I extended our back porch for them to have a little bit of area as opposed to going from a large back yard from my marital home to our little town home. And they would come out there and do their business and I could sometimes open, I would open the gate and then walk them in the back part of our apartment. [00:18:15] Speaker 3: So you and George were just going to enjoy the day together? Correct. Is it fair to say y'all don't have a lot of money? [00:18:23] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:18:24] Speaker 3: And so y'all were going to do something there in the home. Y'all weren't going out for dinner or? [00:18:29] Speaker 4: Yes. We primarily, I would consider us homebodies as opposed to going out and partying and doing this and that. [00:18:38] Speaker 3: Okay. And how long do you think y'all were out that afternoon outside? [00:18:44] Speaker 4: A few hours. [00:18:47] Speaker 3: All right. Could you tell the jury what y'all did during that time? [00:18:52] Speaker 4: We have a dart board that's out there and we just had drinks and we're just really enjoying each other's company and talking about, you know, things that are coming, you know, we both were looking for a job and just kind of, I guess, encouraging and supporting and planning. [00:19:14] Speaker 3: Well, now you said he had a job. Was he looking for a job, a second job? [00:19:19] Speaker 4: No, the job that he had was very unstable. Okay. And at that. [00:19:25] Speaker 3: So he was looking for something new? [00:19:27] Speaker 4: Yes. At that time. [00:19:29] Speaker 3: Yes. Okay. And so during that two or three hours, would it be fair to say that y'all drank the bottle? [00:19:35] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:19:36] Speaker 3: Okay. So would it be fair to say that y'all were feeling the effects of the alcohol? [00:19:40] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:19:41] Speaker 3: Okay. At some point who made the decision to come in? [00:19:45] Speaker 4: I did. [00:19:46] Speaker 3: Okay. Why did y'all, why did you want to come in? [00:19:49] Speaker 4: I felt that George needed a change of scenery. [00:19:52] Speaker 3: Okay. So y'all came in and then, um, did y'all do anything else before he left again? Y'all doing anything? I know y'all, y'all did some arts and crafts. What did y'all do? At some point he went to get another bottle at Publix. [00:20:12] Speaker 4: Yes. Um, after, I believe it was after we had, it was right before I believe that we had gone inside. Um, cause, uh, he called his daughters. I was trying to encourage him to call his family. [00:20:26] Speaker 3: Okay. Now where, where are his daughters? [00:20:28] Speaker 4: Um, his two daughters are located in Pennsylvania. [00:20:31] Speaker 3: And what are their names? [00:20:33] Speaker 4: Anna and destiny. [00:20:35] Speaker 3: And how old are they? [00:20:38] Speaker 4: I believe that Anna is in her thirties and, um, destiny may be in her early twenties. All right. [00:20:46] Speaker 3: Does he have any more children? [00:20:48] Speaker 4: Yes. He has a son. [00:20:50] Speaker 3: Okay. And what is his son? [00:20:52] Speaker 4: He is in Pennsylvania also. Okay. [00:20:55] Speaker 3: So part of that afternoon is y'all came in to call relatives, call family. [00:21:01] Speaker 4: No, I had him call outside. Um, just trying to, I guess, boost the mood. Um, and, uh, the first daughter didn't answer and I don't remember the reason I didn't speak to the second one. The second one, it, I believe he did. It was just for a moment. All right. [00:21:22] Speaker 3: And whose phone are y'all using? [00:21:23] Speaker 4: My phone. [00:21:24] Speaker 3: All right. And is that common for y'all to use that for y'all to share that phone? [00:21:30] Speaker 4: Um, it was because George said that he didn't have a phone. Um, so, um, it would either be lost or, um, given to him by his mother. Uh, so I didn't know he had a cell phone. So we would use my phone. [00:21:44] Speaker 3: So it was primarily your phone. [00:21:46] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:21:47] Speaker 3: Okay. And, um, you took a lot of photographs that were on that phone. [00:21:53] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:21:54] Speaker 3: Videotapes. Yes. [00:21:56] Speaker 4: Text messages. [00:21:57] Speaker 3: Yes. [00:21:58] Speaker 4: Phone call. He and I both on the phone calls. [00:22:00] Speaker 3: So he would use it as well. [00:22:02] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:22:03] Speaker 3: And, uh, that phone, is that the one that was, that was seized in this case? Yes. [00:22:09] Speaker ?: All right. [00:22:10] Speaker 3: So y'all called his daughters. And then, um, during that phone call period, did y'all also call his brother? [00:22:21] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:22:22] Speaker 3: Okay. And who, which brother was that? [00:22:24] Speaker 4: John. [00:22:25] Speaker 3: How many, how many brothers and sisters does George have? [00:22:29] Speaker 4: Um, I'm going to list them if that's okay. Okay. Um, it's John, Farrell, Isaac, Moe, and his sister. [00:22:44] Speaker 3: Okay. And do they all live here in Florida? [00:22:47] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:22:48] Speaker 3: Are they close by? [00:22:49] Speaker 4: As far as I know, yes. [00:22:50] Speaker 3: Yes. What about his parents? [00:22:52] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:22:53] Speaker 3: They live here as well? Yes. Okay. But his ex-wives and his children live up in Philadelphia? Yes. Okay. So you called, called the girls, then you called, uh, or George called his brother? [00:23:10] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:23:11] Speaker 3: Was that conversation that long? [00:23:13] Speaker 4: No, it was not. Okay. [00:23:15] Speaker 3: And then after that phone call, um, what did y'all, were y'all inside by this time? Yes. [00:23:22] Speaker 4: At this, at this point, I believe that it was a good time to get a change of scenery. So I thought George would be better off inside. And frankly, I didn't want to be outside any longer either. Okay. [00:23:37] Speaker 3: So just to get an idea about this time is when he went to get the second bottle or did y'all stay inside for a while before he left? [00:23:44] Speaker 4: No. Um, from what I recall, it was, I thought the day was over and it was going to be, um, get ready for the evening for the day. What maybe, what do you want for dinner? You know, do you have an extra load of laundry that you need to throw in kind of thing. And that was my understanding. [00:24:02] Speaker 3: And he said, this was about five ish or something. [00:24:05] Speaker 4: I don't remember the time. [00:24:07] Speaker 3: Okay. At some point during that time period, did George go to Publix again? [00:24:13] Speaker 4: Yes. I thought he was going to be walking to the convenience store, but apparently, um, when he returned, he had gone across the street with my car and my debit card to buy another bottle of wine. [00:24:26] Speaker 3: What was your understanding of where he was going? [00:24:28] Speaker 4: To the convenience store, walking. For what? Cigarettes. Okay. [00:24:33] Speaker 3: And you've learned, you learned obviously that he came back and you, you learned that he'd use your vehicle. Yes. And he'd used your debit card. [00:24:42] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:24:43] Speaker 3: And he'd brought back a bottle of wine from Publix. Right. And you saw the, uh, the Publix video of that. Yes. [00:24:50] Speaker 4: Okay. [00:24:51] Speaker 3: So he comes back with the other bottle of wine and did he want you to drink with him? It was expected. [00:24:57] Speaker 4: Yes. Yes. [00:24:59] Speaker 3: Yes. And you agreed to consume the one, the second bottle with him. [00:25:04] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:25:05] Speaker 3: Okay. So over the course of that evening, drinking the wine did, what did y'all do for time wise? Uh, watch a movie, music, just kind of tell the jury what you remember. [00:25:16] Speaker 4: I know it's obviously been a while, but it was kind of a regular thing where, um, I would always try to come up with, um, entertaining activities for George and, um, for, um, I bought a puzzle. Um, we started off, um, at one point doing a smaller puzzle and then we did that very quickly. So then I purchased a larger puzzle and I believe it was a thousand pieces. So I thought to get his mind off of things and to focus on something, um, it would be smart for us to do the puzzle. So for however long that took, um, we finished the puzzle. So that was one. [00:26:02] Speaker 3: Did you, every piece was finished or was it? [00:26:04] Speaker 4: Um, every piece was finished. It was strange that we couldn't find one piece and we thought it was funny that, um, it was like in like the perfect place on there, but yes, every, every one, but one piece. [00:26:15] Speaker 3: All right. After the puzzle, what did, what did y'all do? [00:26:19] Speaker 4: Um, I decided to continue to maintain and focus him and I have a bunch of paints that I used of my sons that, um, his grandmother bought him. It's a very big art wooden box and it's got pastels, pencils, paint, any kind of whatever. And, um, he and I were very much into art and with these, with this resource, it got him very interested in being more creative. [00:26:49] Speaker 3: Um, he and I, uh, he, uh, he was very much into art. How long have you been into art? [00:26:51] Speaker 4: Um, ever since I can remember. As a child. [00:26:54] Speaker 3: Do you like to draw? [00:26:56] Speaker 4: I like to do anything artistic. Okay. [00:26:59] Speaker 3: And I know, you know, we saw some of the pictures of your apartment, but it looks like there was pictures and artwork up. Is that all your work and George's work? [00:27:07] Speaker 4: The majority of it, yes, are, uh, belongings from my home. Um, and then also some of George's yes on the wall. [00:27:15] Speaker 3: Was he pretty good at art as well? [00:27:17] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:27:18] Speaker 3: All right. So you both enjoyed doing that. [00:27:20] Speaker 4: Very much. [00:27:21] Speaker 3: So y'all got out, uh, Lucas's art set. What did y'all do with that? [00:27:25] Speaker 4: Um, we were just, I guess doodling, you know, whatever. I would always tell him that everything that you make is a masterpiece. So, um, just let loose and just let it go. And we would just paint and, you know, paint and drink. Yes. And, uh, listen to music sometimes. And yes. [00:27:46] Speaker 3: Okay. Now with the dogs, did y'all get the dogs involved? Oh yes. [00:27:50] Speaker 4: My dogs follow me everywhere. Yes. [00:27:52] Speaker 3: Was there some dancing going on with the dogs? Yes. [00:27:55] Speaker 4: After we had completed the puzzle and, um, we had done it. Um, I guess we're painted out. Um, I thought that it might be a good point for us to maybe listen to some music. Um, and the music that George listens to is a little, it's very fractious to me. And it was definitely not going to lighten the mood. So we ended up finding some channel on the radio and, um, he was feeling it. And then we ended up, my one dog, um, gets very active and was dancing with us. And we were just, um, having a good time listening to music. Okay. [00:28:32] Speaker 3: And, uh, I guess it's getting pretty late in the evening. Yes. Anything else I've missed? [00:28:39] Speaker 4: I don't believe so. All right. [00:28:42] Speaker 3: So tell us, tell us where y'all ended up before, before you started the game of hide and seek. [00:28:51] Speaker 4: Uh, we were there. I couldn't think of anything else possibly that I had to continue entertainment. But I remember sitting at the end of the couch and him sitting in my son's, one of my son's chairs that was in the living room and just kind of doing this. Like, what are we going to do now? Like I very much would like to go to sleep. [00:29:14] Speaker 3: Uh, had y'all, had y'all finished off the, uh, that bottle that he had bought? [00:29:22] Speaker 4: I don't remember, to be honest with you. Bless you. [00:29:25] Speaker 3: Would it be fair to say that as the day wore on, the more y'all consumed? [00:29:32] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:29:33] Speaker 3: All right. And would it be fair to say that as the day wore on, the more you consumed, the more, the more effects you felt from the alcohol? [00:29:42] Speaker 4: Of course, yes. Both of you? [00:29:44] Speaker 3: Yes. Okay. So you would agree, would you not, that at the time y'all were trying to figure out something to do and you put your, right now on the couch, did y'all, would it be fair to say that y'all were intoxicated? [00:29:58] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:29:59] Speaker 3: Tell the jury what happened. [00:30:03] Speaker 4: Um, at one point, I guess he knew that I couldn't come up with anything else. Um, tapped me on my knee and said, you're it. So from there, I ran up the stairs and hid into, um, our shower. Um, just waiting for him to find me. So we could hopefully go to sleep soon at some point. And, um, [00:30:28] Speaker 3: Your shower. Is it, uh, is it a tub or just a walk in? [00:30:32] Speaker 4: It's a tub. Um, but it's in the master bedroom and you have to go all the way upstairs. You have to go in the bedroom and then you have to go into the bathroom part. And then there's the shower part. [00:30:40] Speaker 3: So did you lay down in the tub? [00:30:42] Speaker 4: I, at first, at one point, yes, I was. [00:30:45] Speaker 3: Okay. So you were hiding. [00:30:47] Speaker 4: I was trying. [00:30:48] Speaker 3: Okay. And did you believe that he was going to come try to find you? [00:30:52] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:30:53] Speaker 3: Did you wait? [00:30:55] Speaker ?: Yes. [00:30:56] Speaker 4: For quite some time. All right. [00:30:58] Speaker 3: Then what did you decide to do? [00:30:59] Speaker 4: That I decided that I need to go to sleep. I'm picking my son up the next day and we need to start wrapping up the evening. Um, and I went downstairs to find where he was. [00:31:13] Speaker 3: And what, I think, I think the jury has seen pictures of your, would you call it an apartment or? [00:31:22] Speaker 4: It's considered a town home. [00:31:23] Speaker 3: A town home. So you walk down the stairs, right? Mm-hmm. And at the bottom of the stairs is a bookshelf here? [00:31:32] Speaker 4: Yes. At the very end of it, yes. [00:31:34] Speaker 3: Okay. So you walk down the stairs and you turn and look in the living room. Did you, what did you see? [00:31:40] Speaker 4: Um, I don't even think I made it all the way down the stairwell because I was just looking for him as soon as I could, um, to hopefully go upstairs as soon as we could. And, um, I saw, I looked over and I saw him settling himself in the suitcase. All right. [00:31:55] Speaker 3: Tell us about the suitcase. How, how long is it an older suitcase? [00:31:59] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:32:00] Speaker 3: Whose, whose suitcase was it? [00:32:01] Speaker 4: This is George's suitcase. [00:32:03] Speaker 3: All right. And did he use it for traveling back and forth to Philly? [00:32:07] Speaker 4: Yes. I had, uh, recently taken him on a trip to go see his children in Pennsylvania who he hasn't seen in years. And we took that with us and, uh, because of how dilapidated it was, how broken it was. Um, in the end after that trip, we decided that we would donate it. All right. [00:32:28] Speaker 3: And, uh, I understand y'all kept, y'all kept the suitcase upstairs. Yes. How long did y'all keep it upstairs? [00:32:35] Speaker 4: Since we had moved in. Oh. [00:32:38] Speaker 3: Is there a, is there a closet up there you kept it in? [00:32:42] Speaker 4: Yes. It was in the master closet. Um, the master bedroom closet all the way in the back because of, um, the size of it. And there was nowhere to put it. So it's all the way in the back. [00:32:51] Speaker 3: So when did y'all decide to move it down from upstairs to downstairs? Was it that day or sometime earlier? [00:32:57] Speaker 4: No, it was, um, maybe a week or so prior. [00:33:01] Speaker 3: Okay. And so what, y'all were gonna donate that to Goodwill or? [00:33:07] Speaker 4: Yes. We were going to do, I guess, a spring cleaning. Um, my, anyone who has children understands that they grow quickly. And there was a lot of clothes that I needed to, um, go through, um, of my sons. And then also from George and I moving in and just kind of putting everything in there's, you know, at one point where we just needed to actually go through it and organize it and get things, um, more in order. [00:33:32] Speaker 3: So is that the reason it was downstairs? You were gonna donate it and a bunch of things that you're gonna put inside of it? [00:33:38] Speaker 4: Correct. [00:33:39] Speaker 3: Yes. Okay. So it'd been down there a week. So it was already down there. [00:33:43] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:33:44] Speaker 3: George brought it down. Okay. So you said that you got down there, you're looking for him. You see him settling into the suitcase. Yes. What did you do? [00:33:52] Speaker 4: In my head, I said, oh man, um, we're obviously not going to be going to sleep anytime soon. And, um, I walked over and, um, he was trying to get himself flat. So I couldn't tell that he was in there. And then let me stop you there. [00:34:12] Speaker 3: The suitcase. The suitcase. Is it the suitcase over here in the? Yes. In the box. You've seen it. [00:34:18] Speaker 4: You saw it. [00:34:19] Speaker 3: Yes. Uh, it's a pretty big suitcase. [00:34:21] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:34:22] Speaker 3: How, how big is George? [00:34:24] Speaker 4: George was my height. Um, and... [00:34:27] Speaker 3: How tall are you? [00:34:28] Speaker 4: I'm 5'3". [00:34:29] Speaker 3: Okay. And how much did, uh, George weigh? [00:34:34] Speaker 4: I, I thought it was a hundred pounds. [00:34:37] Speaker 3: Okay. And how much did you weigh? [00:34:39] Speaker 4: Um, I was 98 pounds. [00:34:41] Speaker 3: All right. Do you agree you, you put on some weight? [00:34:44] Speaker 4: Since I've been incarcerated, yes. Right. [00:34:47] Speaker 3: Well, at the time though, y'all were, y'all were pretty skinny. [00:34:51] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:34:52] Speaker 3: So, um, from the pictures, it looks like y'all were both pretty thin. Yes. Um, all right. So, because of his thinness, um, is that how, and, and he's, he's a small man. Yes. [00:35:07] Speaker 4: Okay. [00:35:08] Speaker 3: So he was able to get in the suitcase on his own. Yes. Did he willingly get in the suitcase? He was already in there. [00:35:14] Speaker 4: Okay. [00:35:15] Speaker 3: When you got to him, did he see you? Yes. [00:35:18] Speaker 4: All right. [00:35:19] Speaker 3: Tell us what happened. [00:35:20] Speaker 4: Um, I, I mean, I just kinda, I zipped him up. We thought it was funny. And, um, we're joking about how he was, I guess, small enough to fit inside of the suitcase. All right. [00:35:34] Speaker 3: So what happened then? [00:35:37] Speaker 4: Um, from there it was just, um, we were laughing about it. And, um, it was just strange that he was small enough to fit in there. And then, um, I kinda moved it around a little bit with him in the suitcase still. It was still funny that he was still in the suitcase. Just, I think he and I were just kind of, couldn't believe that he was, he could fit in the suitcase. [00:36:08] Speaker 3: So, did you eventually close the top? Yes. [00:36:12] Speaker 4: In order for, well, the top was already closed. As he was settling himself in there, it was, that's how I knew he was in there was because the top was kind of flopping a little bit. Okay. [00:36:23] Speaker 3: So he had gotten in there to hide and he pulled the top. Yes. On top of it. But you could tell he was in there. Yes. [00:36:29] Speaker 4: You saw him right away. [00:36:30] Speaker 3: Yes. All right. Did you zip him up? Yes. [00:36:34] Speaker ?: Did you? [00:36:35] Speaker 3: And what was he saying or doing when you were zipping him up? [00:36:39] Speaker 4: I just thought it was funny. Um. [00:36:42] Speaker 3: Were you both laughing? [00:36:43] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:36:44] Speaker 3: And, um, so you zipped him up. Were y'all still laughing once you zipped him up? [00:36:50] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:36:51] Speaker 3: Okay. Tell us, tell the jury what happened then. [00:36:53] Speaker 4: Um, from there, I just, I moved the suitcase around, uh, a couple of times, just kind of with on the wheels and moved it around. And, um, at that point it was still, it was funny. We were joking and laughing about it. [00:37:09] Speaker 3: All right. Now, eventually did you go sit down on the couch and get your phone? [00:37:16] Speaker 4: Um, yes. Um, the. Well, I, the suitcase had, um, for me moving it around had flopped, was flopped over. So while it was like that, I thought at that point I had a moment to, I guess, take the time to talk to him. Well, I guess he was not able to get out for a moment. [00:37:50] Speaker 3: So you flipped it. You got, you got it on the top, right? Yeah. It gets in, but at some point you flip it over. So he, the zipper is on the bottom. [00:38:00] Speaker 4: Well, it was just kind of how I was moving it around. Then it ended up kind of flopping. So. [00:38:05] Speaker 3: It was upside down. [00:38:06] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:38:08] Speaker 3: So after you did that, what did you do? [00:38:10] Speaker 4: Um, that's when I, I went over and decided to, um, videotape to just see the, um, I guess the, the jest in it for him to understand that right now I feel safe and right now I have the ability to actually speak to you. Um, in a manner that normally I would not have the ability to do. [00:38:40] Speaker 3: And you were intoxicated. [00:38:42] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:38:43] Speaker 3: And you would agree that you said some things you shouldn't on him. [00:38:49] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:38:50] Speaker 3: All right. But you, you realized he could not get out and get at you. Is that fair? [00:38:55] Speaker 4: At that moment. Yes. [00:38:57] Speaker 3: So the, it goes on for about 10 minutes. [00:39:00] Speaker 4: Um, yes. [00:39:02] Speaker 3: You heard it here today. Did you not? [00:39:04] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:39:05] Speaker 3: You heard, you heard his voice as he was speaking from the suitcase. [00:39:10] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:39:11] Speaker 3: That was his voice on the video and audio. [00:39:13] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:39:14] Speaker 3: And you heard your voice on the video and audio. Yes. That was your voice. [00:39:19] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:39:20] Speaker 3: All those things said by the man were said by George in that two minute video. Correct. All the words said by the female were said by you in that two minute video. Correct. Were you intending on showing him the video the next day? [00:39:34] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:39:35] Speaker 3: At the time or the next day, is it fair to say you don't even remember a video day? [00:39:41] Speaker 4: I do not. Okay. [00:39:43] Speaker 3: So, from what you can tell from watching it, did that refresh your memory about that event? [00:39:51] Speaker 4: It did. [00:39:52] Speaker 3: Why did you say all that? [00:39:57] Speaker 1: What did you say all that? [00:40:19] Speaker ?: What did you say all that? What did you say all that? Thank you. Thank you. [00:41:47] Speaker 1: Mr. Owens, you may proceed. [00:42:09] Speaker 3: All right, I'm talking about just the two-minute video part that was recorded. Could you just tell the jury what you were feeling, what your feelings were at the time, and then explain, just explain that to the jury. You mentioned, you talked about it before. You said he was in that confined space and it was my chance, but is that, do you want to elaborate on that? [00:42:35] Speaker 4: Sure. I want you all to know that I, the majority of the time, am always afraid and always scared. [00:42:44] Speaker 3: All right, well, I understand that, yeah, I understand that, but would it be fair to say that you had some anger at that point? [00:42:57] Speaker 4: I did. [00:42:58] Speaker 3: Would it be fair to say that you wanted to tell him off to some degree? [00:43:02] Speaker 4: I just wanted, yes, for him to have a better understanding, which was the whole point of the videos and documentation prior. [00:43:11] Speaker 3: And you could tell that he was uncomfortable. [00:43:15] Speaker 4: I'm guessing. [00:43:17] Speaker 3: And did you want him to feel some uncomfort? [00:43:22] Speaker 4: I did. [00:43:23] Speaker 3: Okay. Now, at some point, you turned off the video. [00:43:32] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:43:33] Speaker 3: And then we saw a second video, which was approximately 11 minutes later, and you've seen that video that was played to the jury. It was 22 seconds long. [00:43:44] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:43:44] Speaker 3: And I don't think you speak in that video. You hear George say Sarah one time. [00:43:50] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:43:50] Speaker 3: Is that fair to say? [00:43:51] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:43:53] Speaker 3: So between the two-minute video and the 22-second video is an 11-minute period. Would you tell the jury what happened? [00:44:04] Speaker 4: We continued to, I guess, speak to one another, and his tone changed, and I knew the tone, and we ended up, I guess, arguing back and forth with one another. And it was the things that he was saying very much frightened me and cursing at me and threatening me. [00:44:39] Speaker 3: Did he want you to let him out of the suitcase? [00:44:45] Speaker 4: I'm sure so. [00:44:46] Speaker 3: Go ahead. Tell me. [00:44:49] Speaker 4: And it just got, it got very heated very quickly, and he continued to push on the suitcase. And my fear was that he was going to break out of the suitcase, knowing that it was a broken suitcase. And his hand started to come through. His hand started to come through this way. And so I shook the suitcase. I shook the suitcase, trying to get his hand to go back in, shaking it, and telling him that, please stop doing this. Please, please stop doing this to me. Please stop doing this to me. [00:45:25] Speaker 3: So his hand, his hand actually got out of the suitcase? [00:45:28] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:45:28] Speaker 3: And you went to the suitcase? [00:45:30] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:45:31] Speaker 3: And shook it? [00:45:32] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:45:33] Speaker 3: Did that force his hand to go back in? [00:45:35] Speaker 4: No. [00:45:37] Speaker 3: So you're shaking it. Were you shaking it to try to get the suitcase, his hand back in? [00:45:42] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:45:43] Speaker 3: How long did you shake it? [00:45:45] Speaker 4: I don't know. [00:45:46] Speaker 3: But his hand was still out? [00:45:48] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:45:48] Speaker 3: Was he trying to get out? [00:45:51] Speaker 4: Forcefully, yes. [00:45:52] Speaker 3: Was he angry at you? [00:45:54] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:45:55] Speaker 3: Were you in fear? [00:46:02] Speaker 4: Always. [00:46:05] Speaker 3: If he would have gotten out of the suitcase, what would he have done to you? [00:46:11] Speaker 4: Like he used to tell me, he probably would have made me unrecognizable, or I would have lost my life. [00:46:21] Speaker 3: Did you lose the grip on the suitcase? [00:46:24] Speaker 4: Yes. Yes. [00:46:25] Speaker 3: Where was the bat in relation to the suitcase? [00:46:30] Speaker 4: It was leaning up against the dining room table right there. [00:46:37] Speaker 3: How far was the bat from the suitcase? [00:46:42] Speaker 4: Three feet, two feet. [00:46:45] Speaker 3: Was his hand still out of the suitcase? [00:46:48] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:46:48] Speaker 3: And was he getting out of the suitcase? [00:46:51] Speaker 4: Very much trying, yes. Very much trying, yes. [00:46:52] Speaker 3: And so what did you do? [00:46:55] Speaker 4: For the split-second reaction that I had, I happened to see that, and I grabbed the baseball bat and was trying to poke his hand to go back in, to please don't go, don't break through, please. So I hit his hand. So I hit his hand. [00:47:08] Speaker 3: Did you hit the outside part of his hand? Yes. [00:47:14] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:47:14] Speaker 3: We've seen the photographs of his left hand. Did you cause the bruising there? [00:47:19] Speaker 4: I'm guessing yes. [00:47:20] Speaker 3: Now, you've seen the bat. It's a youth bat? [00:47:30] Speaker 4: Yes, I bought it for my son. [00:47:34] Speaker 3: Is this the bat you used? [00:47:36] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:47:39] Speaker 3: And you said you poked him with it? [00:47:43] Speaker 4: Yes, I kind of pushed, like I held it with the skinny part here and then kind of brought it at it, yes. [00:47:53] Speaker 3: You grabbed it with both hands here. Yes. And then the barrel of the bat, the big part of the bat is here. [00:48:00] Speaker 4: Correct. [00:48:01] Speaker 3: And you thrusted it into the different areas of the suitcase? [00:48:07] Speaker 4: I started with his hand, and his hand, he was still trying to get out. He was still trying to do that. So I started to push on the suitcase around it, hoping to have his hand retract and go back inside. [00:48:30] Speaker 3: You made those injuries. [00:48:33] Speaker 4: I did. [00:48:34] Speaker 3: We've seen the photographs. [00:48:36] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:48:37] Speaker 3: We've seen the bruising. Is that from that bat? [00:48:41] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:48:45] Speaker 3: Eventually, did his hand go back inside from you doing? [00:48:52] Speaker 4: Yes. Finally, he had subsided and retracted his hand. [00:48:58] Speaker 3: So in your mind, did you prevent him from attacking you? [00:49:00] Speaker 4: Absolutely. Split-second decision. [00:49:04] Speaker 3: Now, once he retracted his hand, do you remember zipping it up some? Or what did you do in relation? Because he was upside down, was he not, at that point? Yes. At some point, you flipped him back up. I did. Tell him how that happened. [00:49:23] Speaker 4: He wasn't cursing. He wasn't threatening. His hand was inside, foremost. There was no more of him trying to break through the suitcase. So I felt safe enough to turn it back over. It wasn't, it wasn't happening anymore. [00:49:49] Speaker 3: You went back to the video and the couch? [00:49:55] Speaker 4: I did, yes. [00:49:56] Speaker 3: And we saw the second video? [00:49:59] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:49:59] Speaker 3: The 22-second, and he's right side up again? [00:50:03] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:50:04] Speaker 3: And you hear him say, Sarah? [00:50:06] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:50:09] Speaker 3: Had you left enough room for him to get out? Zipper to zipper? [00:50:14] Speaker 4: Yes. That's how his hand was trying. [00:50:16] Speaker 3: That suitcase has two zippers, doesn't it? And they meet at various places along the line? Correct. How much room, when you flipped it over, how much room was between zipper to zipper? [00:50:34] Speaker 4: I don't know specifically. I mean, it was enough to where his hand was coming out. [00:50:42] Speaker 3: After you had hit him with the bat, was he not trying to get out anymore? [00:50:45] Speaker 4: No. [00:50:49] Speaker 3: Did you believe that he could breathe in there? [00:50:52] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:50:53] Speaker 3: Did you ever believe he could die in there? [00:50:56] Speaker 4: No. At all. [00:50:59] Speaker 3: Were you trying to kill him? [00:51:01] Speaker 4: Never. [00:51:02] Speaker 3: Did you want to kill him? [00:51:04] Speaker 4: I did not. [00:51:13] Speaker 3: Did you walk upstairs? [00:51:18] Speaker 4: I did, yes. [00:51:20] Speaker 3: Why didn't you let him out before you walked upstairs? Were you afraid? [00:51:29] Speaker 4: Terrified is more of the word. [00:51:33] Speaker 3: As long as he was in the suitcase, he couldn't harm you. [00:51:37] Speaker 1: Correct. [00:51:43] Speaker 3: When he's... Did you want him to calm down? [00:51:54] Speaker 4: Yes, I wanted him to stop being angry because I know what it is for him to be angry. [00:52:00] Speaker 3: You went upstairs. Where were the dogs? [00:52:06] Speaker 4: The dogs ran upstairs with me. [00:52:09] Speaker 3: And where did they go? [00:52:12] Speaker 4: I'm on the bed. [00:52:20] Speaker 3: Did you have the phone with you? [00:52:22] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:52:24] Speaker 3: I know at some point you called your husband, Brian, did you not? [00:52:27] Speaker 4: I did. [00:52:30] Speaker 3: Do you recall how long that conversation was? [00:52:33] Speaker 4: Not very long. [00:52:37] Speaker 3: Can you recall what was said? [00:52:40] Speaker 4: I don't remember exactly. No, I don't. [00:52:53] Speaker 3: One more. Ms. Boone, Sarah Boone, you said that when he was in the suitcase, he was threatening her, threatening you. Can you tell the jury what he was saying? [00:53:22] Speaker 4: I don't know. Am I allowed to curse? [00:53:28] Speaker 3: Yes. [00:53:29] Speaker 4: That he was going to fucking end me. And it... That's what made me ask him please to stop doing what he's doing to me. That he was going to, I'm guessing, try his best that night to probably take my life. [00:53:48] Speaker 3: But what... The threat you heard was he's... [00:53:53] Speaker 4: He's going to... [00:53:54] Speaker 3: Say the word. Fucking end me. Excuse me? [00:53:58] Speaker 4: Fucking end me. [00:53:59] Speaker 3: And you? [00:54:01] Speaker 4: Yes. [00:54:06] Speaker 3: One more. [00:54:07] Speaker 1: Yes, sir. [00:54:18] Speaker 3: Judge, can we approach the bench? [00:54:20] Speaker 1: Yes. Thank you. [00:54:50] Speaker ?: Thank you. [00:55:20] Speaker 1: All right, members of the jury, it is 2.14. I have a matter that I have discussed with counsel at this point in time outside of your presence. So I'm going to ask you to retire to the deliberation room. We'll bring you back in as promptly as possible. Again, similar instruction that I've given you. Please do not conduct any independent investigation or research as the person places things or charge involved. And do not have any discussions amongst yourselves or anyone else about those things. We'll bring you back in as promptly as possible. Thank you. [00:56:00] Speaker 4: Thank you. [00:56:01] Speaker ?: Thank you. [00:56:30] Speaker 1: Y'all may be seated. Thank you. State, you can proceed with any argument at this point in time. [00:56:50] Speaker 2: Judge, I believe that's pretty close to what we already knew from the deposition testimony from the doctors relaying what she said for the proffer. What we have here is testimony from the defendant. Her timeline is she comes downstairs after having gone up to the shower and hiding, laying down, after being declared to be it. She comes back downstairs, and before she gets back to the bottom of the stairwell, she can see that the victim is in the suitcase trying to get flat because the lid is flopping and he's not hidden just yet. And so she comes over, and I believe she testified she was moving it around before actually zipping the lid shut, but moving it around. Everybody's laughing. It's all fun and games still. And then she zips it, and it's still fun and games, and everybody's laughing. And then at this point, she testifies that this is now her opportunity to get on her pulpit to express her true feelings about everything. And that's when she sits down on the couch and opens up her phone device and begins recording what later turns out to be IMG underscore 1062.movie at 11.12.45 for two minutes and three seconds. During this period of time, the decedent is expressing meekly that he can't breathe. The only time he ever curses at her is, Sarah, I can't fucking breathe. Babe, I can't fucking breathe. He is demonstrating under the law that he is in fear of losing his life. She has committed an aggravated assault. She has committed false imprisonment. She was the initial aggressor. There was no overt act to justify these actions that she took against her boyfriend. She then goes on to say that during this period of time, between the end of the movie at 11.14.48 seconds and before the next one starts at 11.23, that it's now at this time, while he's still constrained and clearly unable to get out under his own power, despite having his hand out, she begins beating him with a bat, poking his hands, poking the suitcase with a deadly weapon. A bat is used for baseball, but it can also be used to harm another person. And according to the medical examiner's testimony, there was great harm caused to him, deep ecchymosis bruises. She can't start to do this out of fear, like the analogy I gave earlier. If I pull a gun to rob you, judge, and you pull a gun, I can't shoot you in self-defense. She started this. She started this. There was no overt act, and therefore, we're asking for you to prevent, under the case law, any prior instances of violence, any reputation evidence, and any battered spouse syndrome evidence, because that's simply just what the case ended up being. Thank you. [01:00:04] Speaker 1: Response. [01:00:11] Speaker 3: Judge, this was a game by two intoxicated people. When people are drunk and intoxicated, they do silly and stupid things. The evidence is uncontroverted that George Torres willingly, by his own choice, elected to hide in the suitcase. By their interaction between the two of them giggling and laughing at each other, he consented to her zipping up the suitcase and the playful nature of what was going on during those few minutes prior to the video. When the video is turned on, there's a two-minute period where they're talking. He's saying, I need to get out. I can't breathe. She's not taking him seriously. As you've seen from the videos, I thought it was the boy crying wolf. She did not appreciate the fact that he could be actually having trouble breathing, and this was a chance for him to be heard by her about how she felt about some things involving their relationship. A short time later, the video was turned off, and then that period has been testified to by my client, and that period is uncontroverted. That's a second period of time. We've got that time for the video. We've got the 11 minutes. We've got the 22 seconds. And there's no video. There's no audio. There's no eyewitness. There's nothing but Sarah Boone's testimony, and she's testified here today that they had words, there were threats, he got his hand out of the suitcase. She knew by the threats and him getting his hand out of the suitcase that he was about to get out of the suitcase, and he was going to hurt her. A reasonable person under that scenario would believe she was about to be harmed. She was an imminent threat of harm. She blocked that attack by grabbing the bat, hitting his hand. When that didn't work, she started poking him with the bat in the suitcase. Eventually, she poked him several times. He put his hand inside the suitcase. She put the bat up when she realized he was not going to do that any further. She flipped him over, right side up. She still had a fear, knowing that if he got out, she would be harmed. He would beat her up. She went upstairs. That is an overt act based on the discussions, coupled with the fact that he threatened her. Using the word, I'm going to fucking end it for you, or some words to that effect. I don't remember her exact words. Just before she went upstairs, while he was still in the suitcase. If she would have let him out, now this is an event involving an omission, failure to act, failure to unzip him, at that point, before she went upstairs. The failure to act, which would have let him out, which would have created a situation that she believed was imminent bodily harm to herself. And I guess I'll get a couple of examples. Let's say that a police officer is called to a scene, and the only thing he hears is there is a suspect, and the suspect may be armed. So, of course, the officer pulls out his revolver, and he's walking around, but then eventually he finds the suspect, and the suspect reaches for his waist. The officer doesn't see the gun, but the officer sees the movement to the waist. The officer fires and shoots the suspect. The officer is justified because there's an immediate threat of harm. The officer has to react instinctively. There's no time to think. Similar to the actions that Sarah Boone had to take. Another example, you're in a bar with your buddies, and you've had something to drink, and another group has had something to drink, and one of your buddies gets into an argument with one of the buddies on the other party. And one of your friends, seeing that it's being escalated, and the guy that's arguing with your buddy is aggressive, more aggressive than your buddy is. Your buddy's trying to settle the thing, but this other individual, maybe he's had too much to drink, and he's more aggressive. So you go around behind this individual, and before he's able to strike your buddy, you grab him. You lock him up. That's physical restraint to block an attack. Or you grab him by the neck, and you choke him. Physical restraint to block an attack. That's what she was doing with the suitcase. If she let him out of the suitcase, she was going to be harmed, based on him trying to get out with his hand, based on the threats he made while he had his hand out, and based on the threats he made while he had his hand inside just before she went upstairs. [01:06:11] Speaker 1: Thank you. Court's going to review all the case law that it's obtained in its research in this matter, and come back with an oral ruling momentarily. Thank you.