Dr. Phil McGraw bashed Sunny Hostin for criticizing the U.S. justice system during a discussion of the Karmelo Anthony murder case on The View. The 75-year-old TV personality took a swipe at Hostin, claiming she “apparently didn’t bother to learn the facts.”
Dr. Phil criticized Sunny Hostin after she shared her opinion about the Karmelo Anthony verdict on The View
Anthony, a black teenager, was found guilty of murder by a Texas jury in the fatal stabbing of Austin Metcalf, a white teenager, last year, reports The Guardian. In June, a jury sentenced the Texas teenager to 35 years in prison. According to the Washington Times, the jury in Collin County took about three hours to reach a unanimous verdict, finding Anthony guilty of murder.
At the time of the killing, Anthony was 17, but Texas law permitted him to be tried as an adult. He is now 19. Anthony admitted to the stabbing, while his legal team maintained that he was acting in self-defense. Jurors rejected the defense’s “sudden passion” claim, which could have lowered the sentence to under 20 years.
Commenting on the verdict, Hostin said on June 22, “There seems to be two systems of justice in this country, and there have been for a very long time.” She added that she did not understand why the jury rejected the self-defense argument, reports DailyMail.
Dr. Phil responded by claiming that Hostin and other pundits were “using this case and Karmelo Anthony to advance an agenda,” adding, “They’re not interested in Karmelo Anthony.” He said, “There’s no evidence that this confrontation was started by anyone other than Karmelo Anthony. There’s no evidence that it was escalated by anyone other than Karmelo Anthony. [These commentators] apparently didn’t bother to learn the facts of the case before they started crying foul.”
Following the sentencing, the Collin County NAACP said it was “enraged” by the verdict in a Facebook post that questioned “fairness, representation, and confidence in our justice system.”
Jury selection also drew scrutiny over racial dynamics, as the 12-member jury with six alternates included no Black jurors, reports The Dallas Express. The jury included three Asian women, one Middle Eastern woman wearing a hijab, at least one Hispanic juror, and another woman of color, while all male jurors were reported to be white.
However, in closing arguments, as per CNN, First Assistant District Attorney Bill Wirskye told jurors, “This case has nothing to do with race. This case has nothing to do with self-defense. This was an unprovoked, unjustified murder. It is senseless.”
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