Sunny Hostin's Jury Holdout Claim Disputed by Jurors, Sources

Multiple sources from the time of the 1991 trial of Daniel Rakowitz, the so-called "Butcher of Tompkins Square Park," are disputing claims made by "The View" co-host Sunny Hostin that she was the lone holdout juror who prevented a guilty verdict. Hostin stated on the television program that she was the single holdout, reading from a New York Times article about the trial.

However, jurors who spoke to the press in the aftermath of the 1991 verdict told reporters that the holdout was an unemployed man who allegedly prolonged the deliberations to continue receiving daily stipends and meals provided to jurors. One juror, Valerie Holmes, told Newsday at the time, "He was unemployed and liked the $15 a day and the three free meals. He liked that we were arguing on and on."

Holmes reiterated this account to The Post and The Daily News, describing the holdout as a "manipulative" man determined to have his way. The jury forewoman, Lois Markle, told the Associated Press that from the outset, "this particular person was determined that the jury was going to find Rakowitz not guilty by reason of mental disease."

A law enforcement source familiar with the case also told The Post that the holdout juror was a man. "We were told that the juror who held out was a man. There was no other description," the source stated.

While Hostin was quoted in news articles from the time as a juror on the case, she did not identify herself as the holdout, nor did any other jurors who spoke with the press. In fact, a Newsday article quoted Hostin, then known by her government name Asunción Cummings, as saying, "We had to compromise. But it is obvious to me he butchered the body and he literally got away with murder. He attempted to commit the perfect crime."

Another Newsday article from 1991 suggested there were two holdout jurors, though it primarily focused on the unemployed man and did not provide further details on a second holdout.

Rakowitz was on trial for the 1989 murder of his roommate, Monika Beerle, a 26-year-old dance student and topless dancer. He admitted to dismembering her body and claimed to have boiled her head, consuming her brains and fingers, and feeding parts to homeless individuals. He was ultimately found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center. A 2005 court hearing determined he remained too mentally unstable for release.