The View's Sunny Hostin Pleads for 24-Year-Old Son's Trespassing Charge to Be Dismissed in Emotional Letter

The View co-host Sunny Hostin wrote an emotional letter requesting that New York prosecutors dismiss a trespassing charge against her 24-year-old son, Gabriel Hostin.

“My client is a 2025 Harvard University graduate with no criminal history or prior contact with the criminal justice system. He is an avid runner and former Junior Olympian track athlete who was in the area training," the media personality, a former attorney who is representing her son, wrote in a letter obtained by a news outlet on Monday, July 13.

Gabriel was reportedly cited on June 16 before 8 p.m. for allegedly trespassing on an active railroad right-of-way. The incident did not involve an arrest.

The View co-host explained her son "observed a gravel incline that could be used for hill training" and walked through gates that were "standing open."

"The only 'No Trespassing' sign was affixed to the left gate and because the gates are open, it was not visible to my client as he entered the property," she detailed. "He reasonably believed that the area was accessible and had no intention of entering private property unlawfully."

A police officer approached Gabriel while he was training on the hill, and Sunny arrived to the scene within minutes after being called by her son.

"During the encounter, and in my presence, the officer acknowledged that the gate should have been closed and, using a key from his own belt, proceeded to close and lock the gate," she claimed. "The officer further advised that he was intentionally issuing only a violation — not a criminal trespass charge — in order to deter others from entering the property. The officer's acknowledgment that the gate should have been secured reinforces my client's reasonable belief that the area appeared open and accessible to the public."

Sunny called the situation an "honest mistake," pointing out that her son worked hard to build an “exemplary academic and personal record.”

The daytime show host asked for the charges to be dismissed, noting it would avoid "imposing unnecessary consequences on a young man who has demonstrated exceptional character and achievement and who poses no risk to the community."

Multiple outlets reported that Gabriel name-dropped his famous mother shortly after police approached him, allegedly asking them if they knew who she was.

"They were just talking to the kid because he was trespassing, but his mother made it an issue,” sources told The New York Post on Monday, July 13. "She wanted to know why he was stopped and why did they talk to him."

The insider pointed out that the tracks typically raise suicide concerns, but there was no indication the college graduate was trying to harm himself.