Sunny Hostin has defended her claim that she was the holdout juror in the Daniel Rakowitz murder trial, saying apparent contradictions in old reports relate to separate charges in the case.
The View co-host addressed the issue during an interview with executive producer Brian Teta for the programme’s Behind the Table series, after newspaper reports resurfaced suggesting there had been two holdout jurors.
Rakowitz was charged in the 1991 New York trial with killing, dismembering and cannibalising Monika Beerle. Hostin previously said she had persuaded the other jurors to find him not criminally responsible by reason of insanity.
She now says she was the only juror who believed Rakowitz was insane when he killed Beerle and therefore should not be held criminally responsible for the murder.
However, Hostin said the jury’s position was different on the charge relating to the desecration of Beerle’s remains. According to her account, all but one juror believed Rakowitz was guilty on that count.
Hostin said the difference between the two counts explained why reports referred to two holdouts, adding that the distinction was difficult to explain during a five-minute television segment.
She had raised the decades-old case while discussing the Lindsay Clancy mistrial, in which a single juror reportedly prevented an 11-1 decision on criminal responsibility. The Clancy case has since taken a new turn, with her defence arguing that prosecutors cannot prove she killed her children.
