Who is Sunny Hostin? What to know about The View co-host's ‘holdout juror’ claims in Daniel Rakowitz case

Sunny Hostin, the “The View” co-host and former federal prosecutor, has revealed that she was the holdout juror in the 1991 trial of Daniel Rakowitz, the New York man accused of killing and dismembering his roommate. Hostin said she opposed a guilty verdict because she believed Rakowitz was experiencing psychosis at the time of the killing.

Hostin made the revelation during a discussion on “The View” about the Lindsay Clancy murder case, which ended earlier this month in a mistrial after jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict. NBC News reported that Hostin connected her own experience as a holdout juror to the debate over the insanity defense in the Clancy case.

Sunny Hostin has been a co-host of ABC’s “The View” since 2016. According to her official ABC biography , she previously worked as a CNN host and legal analyst and as a fill-in anchor for ABC News.

Also read: Charlie Kirk's 'final' video row intensifies as Candace Owens slams Erika Kirk's actions: 'Psychotic'

Hostin is also a lawyer. She graduated from Notre Dame Law School and began her legal career as an appellate law clerk before becoming a trial attorney and federal prosecutor with the US Department of Justice. ABC says she received a Special Achievement Award from then-Attorney General Janet Reno for her work prosecuting child sexual predators.

Her television work has included coverage of major criminal cases. She also hosted and executive produced the true-crime documentary series “Truth About Murder with Sunny Hostin” for Investigation Discovery.

Hostin said she served on the jury in the Daniel Rakowitz case before attending law school.

Rakowitz was accused of killing Monika Beerle, a 26-year-old dance student, in New York in 1989. He was accused of dismembering her body, boiling some of the remains and feeding them to people in Tompkins Square Park.

Rakowitz was ultimately found not guilty by reason of insanity at his 1991 trial. NBC News reported that Hostin said she was the juror who initially prevented the panel from returning a guilty verdict .

Also read: Sponsoring an immigrant to the US? What Indians need to know about new Affidavit of Support form

Hostin said she believed Rakowitz was psychotic at the time of the killing. She recalled that the jury deliberated for nine days and that discussions became heated.

“One juror threw a chair at me,” Hostin said on “The View,” according to NBC News. She said she continued questioning the other jurors about the evidence and eventually the entire 12-member panel agreed that Rakowitz was not criminally responsible by reason of insanity.

Hostin also said her producer found an old New York Times report after she mentioned the case on the show. According to Hostin, the article described one holdout juror as being principally responsible for preventing the panel from returning a guilty verdict.

Rakowitz was ordered in 2010 to remain at the maximum-security Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center on Wards Island, according to NBC News' report on Hostin's revelation.