Sunny Hostin identifies as 1991 holdout juror in Rakowitz case

Sunny Hostin, co-host of ABC's "The View," revealed on Tuesday that she was the holdout juror in a 1991 New York trial where Daniel Rakowitz was found not criminally responsible for the murder of his roommate, Monika Beerle. Hostin, whose maiden name is Cummings and first name is Asunción, identified herself as the juror who initially prevented the panel from returning a guilty verdict. She stated that she viewed Rakowitz as "psychotic" and not criminally responsible for the killing.

According to a February 23, 1991, report by The New York Times, several jurors said one holdout was principally responsible for stopping a guilty verdict. The article quoted a juror, identified as Asuncion Cummings, saying, "We don't think he intended to kill her... But once he did, he dismembered her body in an effort to commit the perfect crime." During the Tuesday broadcast, Hostin elaborated on the trial details, noting that Rakowitz boiled Beerle's body parts and fed them to unhoused individuals. She described the jury sequestration as lasting nine days, during which one juror threw a chair at her. Hostin claimed she persuaded the other jurors one by one until all 12 voted unanimously that Rakowitz was not criminally responsible by reason of mental disease or defect.

The New York Times reported that Rakowitz, described as a former mental patient, left Beerle's skull in a bucket of kitty litter in the baggage room at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City. A witness testified that Rakowitz served soup containing a finger to homeless people in Tompkins Square Park. Following the verdict, Rakowitz was sent to a state hospital in New York for the criminally insane. NBC New York reported in 2010 that Rakowitz remained at the maximum-security Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center on Wards Island after petitioning to be moved.

Hostin made the disclosure while discussing the Lindsay Clancy case, where a mistrial was declared after juries deadlocked on the killings of Clancy's three children. Clancy's defense team has called for an investigation into the holdout juror in that case. Hostin criticized that request as "despicable," arguing that investigating a juror for fulfilling their duty would have a chilling effect on juries. She stated that jury duty is one of the most important things she has ever done.

Curtis Houck, managing editor of NewsBusters, told Fox News Digital that Hostin's admission was "beyond parody" and "absolutely breathtakingly stupid." Nicholas Fondacaro, associate editor at the Media Research Center, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that the revelation was the latest example of Hostin viewing issues through a "prism of racism." This comment followed Hostin's viral remarks on Monday about her children facing racism while attending predominantly White private schools. Hostin contrasted her experience with that of Nikole Hannah-Jones, founder of the 1619 Project and reporter for The New York Times Magazine, who recently expressed regret over sending her daughter to predominantly Black public schools in Brooklyn. Hostin said her children excelled academically but suffered psychological trauma and bullying related to their identity.