Rebecca Grossman trial update

[quote]one friend of the Grossman family, who drove with his wife from Reseda to show up for Grossman, said. “What happened was an accident, and you cannot blame anyone for an accident.”

People always think that if they didn't mean to do something, then they're not responsible for what they did.

Besides, if it was simply a case of an accident that she can't be blamed for, then why is she trying to pin the deaths on the baseball player in the SUV that she was seen racing with?

The site owners don't want to be sued, OP.

Sued for what? These articles are copy/paste things. Nothing original.

AGOURA HILLS, CA — The trial of Rebecca Grossman, charged with fatally striking two boys with her car and fleeing the scene in 2020, is set to begin on July 5 with jury selection.

The start date was set during a pretrial conference Monday at the Van Nuys Courthouse West, according to Deputy District Attorney Ryan Gould. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Joseph Brandolino also ordered that prosecutors and Grossman’s attorneys turn over all discovery evidence by April 3, Gould said. The next pretrial hearing is set for April 17.

Brandolino said Grossman’s legal team can bring in up to seven expert witnesses. He estimated the trial will run for six weeks, according to the Ventura County Star.

"I'm hoping it'll be less than that," Brandolino said, according to the Ventura County Star.

Grossman was charged in 2020 with “fatally running over two young boys then fleeing the scene” in Westlake Village, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office. Grossman on Sept. 29, 2020 was driving at “excessive speeds” when she hit Mark, 11, and Jacob, 8, Iskander, who were crossing the street in a marked crosswalk, according to the district attorney’s office. She continued driving, only stopping when her car engine cut off, the office claimed.

Grossman was charged with two felony counts each of murder and vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one felony count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death — charges that come with a sentence of 34 years to life in prison.

Grossman previously attempted to have her murder charges dropped, according to the Acorn, and contested blood-alcohol evidence. Both efforts came up short.

“No one has ever disputed that her car hit the boys,” Grossman’s attorney Tony Buzbee told Patch in January.

Even still, Grossman was overcharged, Buzbee claimed. Culpability is more appropriately placed on the city of Westlake Village, Buzbee said, claiming the site of the crash was known to be dangerous.

She accidentally got drunk and accidentally forgot to call an Uber because she was in no condition to drive, too.

Grossman Appears at Pre-Trial Hearing

Hidden Hills resident Rebecca Grossman, arrested for the car accident that killed two boys in Westlake Village in 2020, appeared in Van Nuys Court this morning after initially failing to appear. Her attorneys told the judge they did not know she was required to appear. New discoveries will be presented at the pre-trial hearing. The prosecutor claims that Grossman, who was going more than 70 miles per hour at the time of the crash, had Valium and alcohol in her system. Nancy Iskander, the mother of the two boys killed, was also at the courthouse. The case goes to trial July 1. If found guilty Grossman could face up to 30 years in prison.

That rich cunt’s attorney sent DL a letter

Kinda makes sense R7.

I was just wondering about this trial/situation recently. DL is the only place to follow it, as far as I can tell. It certainly isn't being covered in the greater media. So, let Grossman's f*ckin' lawyers send DL letters. I intend to continue the discussion.

TY R9.

Someone needs to light a Virginia Slim and just look away. 🚗

Seriously, why waste taxpayers money on a trial. Pay restitution to the family. A fine to your community and do your time.

The Daily Mail, which is banned on datalounge, is covering a newstory of a quote socialite unquote who killed a cop in the Caribbean and was fined 40 grand.

The trial of Rebecca Grossman, who is accused of killing Mark and Jacob Iskander, was scheduled to take place next month, but has been delayed to 2024.

There's been yet another delay in the trial of a woman accused of killing two young boys in Westlake Village in September 2020.

Socialite Rebecca Grossman was due to be tried next month, for the murders of Mark and Jacob Iskander, who were 8 and 11 at the time.

The trial has been postponed to January 16th of next year. Grossman is accused of driving a speeding car which hit them as they crossed on a marked crosswalk. She denies the charges.

The mother of the boys, Nancy Iskander, told KCLU News that she’s “crushed” by the delay.

Money talks and bullshit walks. This cunt is going to drag out this case till everyone just gives up and settles. Were I that mother Id make sure that every hearing Id be sitting there holiding pictures of the 2 boys she murdered,even if it took 10 years. But Im vindictive that way. I cant imagine how that poor mother feels.She cant just be allowed to get closure and move on.

January 16th, 2024. Info about her boyfriend/street racing partner relationship will be allowed. Yes!

I just got called to Jury Duty for 1/15/24. Van Nuys. Hmmmmmm......

The article at OP - sounds like she and the former Dodger were racing.

[quote] The two left the restaurant separately that evening; witnesses to the deadly collision that followed minutes later described seeing Erickson’s black SUV racing with Grossman’s white Mercedes GLE43.

They were racing and apparently were shtupping. Not at that moment of course but they were in a relationship.

Finally, the trial begins.

If Martha went to the big house for insider trading, this bitch definitely needs to do some time.

R15, cross referencing to another case but that is exactly what Dan Markel's parents did and it took 10 years. The Mouther even wrote a book. They were tenacious and patient..

She's blaming her lovah! The ex baseball player she was screwing around with. "He did it! He killed those poor little boys!" Idiotic defense.

Fry this Bitch.

[quote] She continued driving, only stopping when her car engine cut off, the office claimed.

The car was all like, “oh my Christ you just hit two boys! Oh no! Hey wait a minute? Why are you still driving? Are you…fleeing the scene? No you are not bitch!”

[quote] Hidden Hills resident Rebecca Grossman, arrested for the car accident that killed two boys in Westlake Village in 2020,

Hidden Hills and Westlake Village sound like soap opera locations

The image of the crumpled form of 11-year-old Mark Iskander on the blacktop of Triunfo Canyon Road flashed on the courtroom television screen above witness Susan Manners, who testified that she captured it moments after she saw the boy struck by a vehicle. “My Marky,” a sobbing Nancy Iskander cried out. The sudden utterance by the child’s mother startled jurors listening to witness testimony Tuesday in the trial of Rebecca Grossman. The Hidden Hills socialite is charged with two counts of murder in the killing of Mark and his 8-year-old brother, Jacob, in a Westlake Village crosswalk. Iskander, doubled over and weeping, dashed out of the Van Nuys courtroom. Tuesday, the third day of the highly charged trial, featured testimony from witnesses who said they heard or saw the children being struck. No single witness said they saw Grossman’s Mercedes SUV hit both children. One witness testified to seeing the vehicle hit the younger boy, Jacob; another testified to seeing the SUV strike Mark. Manners’ photo was the first jurors had seen of either boy at the scene of the Sept. 29, 2020, tragedy. It was followed by images of Mark’s broken skateboard in the roadway, a helmet and scattered debris. Manners, of Westlake Village, testified that she was out for her regular five-mile walk when she saw a woman and three children “lined up like little ducks” at a crosswalk.

To her horror, she said, she heard a train-like roar as vehicles approached the crossing, and she realized the worst was about to happen. She testified that she attempted to wave down the vehicles by stepping off the curb into the bike lane but was unsuccessful. There were two impacts in the crosswalk, she said — one of which she heard, and the other she saw. Manners said she saw the older boy on the skateboard being struck by a vehicle, which she identified as the second vehicle through the crosswalk. VAN NUYS, CA - JANUARY 23: Rebecca Grossman, right, tightly holding on to her husband Peter Grossman heads into Van Nuys Courthouse West on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024 in Van Nuys, CA. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) CALIFORNIA Rebecca Grossman’s lawyer points finger at ex-Dodgers pitcher as murder trial begins

Jan. 26, 2024 Los Angeles prosecutor Ryan Gould said in opening statements Friday that the evidence would show a Mercedes SUV driven by former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson first passed through the crosswalk, avoiding the Iskanders, followed by Grossman, who fatally struck the brothers. Authorities allege she was driving as fast as 81 mph and traveled a quarter of a mile after slamming into the children before her vehicle shut down. The second vehicle, Manners testified, struck Mark, whom she would later photograph lying on the ground. Under questioning, she said she saw the impact send the boy’s body into the air as high as the vehicle’s roof but did not see it land. Grossman, 60, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death. If convicted of all charges, she faces 34 years to life in prison

Defense lawyers, led by prominent Houston attorney Tony Buzbee, have argued that Erickson, Grossman’s erstwhile boyfriend, is responsible for the fatalities. They maintain that his vehicle struck the boys first, then the 11-year-old’s body flew up before being struck by Grossman’s vehicle, causing front-end damage. Deputy Dist. Atty. Jamie Castro showed Manners a defense-team animation depicting that scenario, and the witness called it incorrect. Jurors on Monday heard Nancy Iskander recall how she pulled her 5-year-old son, Zachary, to safety before hearing a loud sound and seeing her older boys vanish. She said she then found Jacob unconscious and Mark with “every bone in his body” broken. Witness Jake Sands testified on Tuesday he was a passenger in a vehicle on Triunfo Canyon Road when he saw a white Mercedes AMG SUV following a black Mercedes AMG SUV very closely while going “90 mph,” and then he saw the Iskander family in the crosswalk. He testified he heard no sound when the black Mercedes passed through the crosswalk, but when the white Mercedes SUV came into the crosswalk, it hit one of the boys, and he heard the sound of a crash. “I saw one of the boys go airborne,” Sands said. And then, he said, the body fell to the ground near the right curb. He later said the child was Jacob. Sands said he saw the other boy, Mark, farther down the road near the median but did not see him hit by a vehicle. After the impact, he testified, the white Mercedes’

After the impact, he testified, the white Mercedes’ brake lights went on, but it did not stop. Authorities say the younger boy was thrown about 50 feet in the collision, and the older child was 254 feet from where he was struck — a distance a deputy who specializes in crash incidents previously testified was the farthest he had known a human to be tossed in a crash. Under cross-examination by Buzbee, Sands acknowledged he “only saw the white Mercedes hit one kid.” Buzbee asked if Sands could see if the person driving the white Mercedes was a woman, and he replied he could not as it was “almost dark” and the driver was going very fast. VAN NUYS, CA-APRIL 25, 2022: Rebecca Grossman, co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation, leaves Van Nuys Courthouse during a break from her preliminary hearing. Grossman is charged with murder and other counts stemming from a crash in Westlake Village that left two young brothers dead. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) CALIFORNIA Lawyer for L.A.-area socialite charged with murder for running over two boys says crosswalk was a danger

Jan. 10, 2023 Yasamin Eftekhari testified she was driving an SUV in which Sands was a passenger when she saw a black vehicle and a white vehicle speeding past her on the left. “There was a family walking in the crosswalk, and two little boys got struck. I only noticed the first one,” she testified. “I saw the white vehicle go straight toward that one boy.” She later identified the child as 8-year-old Jacob. Prosecutor Castro asked if she saw the black vehicle hit either of the children. Eftekhari replied she didn’t. Prosecutors must prove Grossman acted with implied malice and showed reckless disregard for life. Although she is not charged with driving under the influence, they are accusing her of being impaired by alcohol and Valium. Grossman and Erickson had earlier in the day been drinking cocktails at a nearby restaurant, Julio’s Agave Grill, witnesses testified Monday. The couple were joined by retired baseball player Royce Clayton, who testified Monday that Erickson drank two margaritas and Grossman, one. Afterward, he said, they all agreed to meet at Grossman’s home and watch a presidential debate. He said Grossman did not seem to be impaired when she left the now-shuttered eatery.

Jesus, that poor baby. 300 feet is the length of a football field.^^^

This bitch, SMDH. Driving 70 MPH when one isn’t on a highway is no accident.

I have a sick feeling she's going to get off. I hope I'm wrong.

But the investigator said he was basing his assessment on “the entire picture,” including her behavior after her vehicle stopped after the incident, disabled by its safety system. A deputy previously testified that Grossman said “she did not know what was going on. She said she hit something, but she didn’t know what she hit.” According to court testimony, Grossman and former Dodgers player Erickson, 55, had been drinking cocktails at a restaurant before the crash. They were with retired baseball player Royce Clayton, who testified previously that Erickson drank two margaritas and Grossman one. He said Grossman did not seem to be impaired when she left the eatery. Buzbee, Grossman’s lead attorney, has argued throughout the trial that it was a black 2016 Mercedes AMG SUV driven by Erickson — not his client’s white Mercedes SUV — that first struck the children. He also alleged to jurors that Erickson hid in some nearby bushes after the crash and watched the aftermath of the incident unfold.

[QUOTE]“No one has ever disputed that her car hit the boys,”

Her lawyer said this yet they're trying to pin this on her lover? That won't look good to the jury. Combined it with physical evidence. Some expert can determine how fast the vehicle had been traveling given the car's mass, the boy's mass and 254 for long distance he was thrown. The rules of physics don't lie. And surely the police inspected his vehicle at some point and took pictures of it showing no impact damage.

The lawyer's wording is pretty hideous, too, like he was anthropomorphizing the car. She had absolutely no agency driving said vehicle.

[quote]He also alleged to jurors that Erickson hid in some nearby bushes after the crash and watched the aftermath of the incident unfold.

This is weird.

[quote]Although she is not charged with driving under the influence, they are accusing her of being impaired by alcohol and Valium.

Maybe this helps explain her confusion after the accident?

[quote]And surely the police inspected his vehicle at some point and took pictures of it showing no impact damage.

The defense attorney stated that "sheriff’s investigators never checked his vehicle for damage".

No question the boyfriend's car was checked for damage. How crazy to think otherwise.

Rebecca Grossman floored her high-powered Mercedes SUV on a quiet residential street, speeding up to 81 mph and barely braking before fatally striking two boys in a Westlake Village crosswalk, a veteran crash investigator testified at the L.A. socialite’s murder trial Wednesday. Grossman tapped the brakes a second and a half before she slammed into Mark and Jacob Iskander, traveling 73 mph in a 45-mph zone, according to Michael Hale, an investigator with the Orange County district attorney’s office who analyzes vehicular homicide data. Using information from the “black box” inside Grossman’s vehicle — an event data recorder that depicts information such as speed, brake usage and airbag deployment — Hale said the last five seconds of Grossman’s travels the night of Sept. 29, 2020, were captured before a collision triggered her airbags. The “data is consistent with two strikes with small objects,” he said.

Showing a chart of the data, Hale said the SUV’s black box indicates that had Grossman been traveling the 45-mph speed limit, she would have driven 326 feet in five seconds, as opposed to the 559 feet she actually went. That timing, he said, would have allowed 11-year-old Mark and 8-year-old Jacob to make it safely across the intersection. “Ultimately, had that vehicle been following the speed limit, there would have been no crash,” he said. Iskander boys CALIFORNIA Boy’s body bore the imprint of Mercedes front grille, medical examiner says at Grossman trial

Feb. 7, 2024 Prosecutors allege Grossman, 60, had been drinking at a nearby restaurant with her then-boyfriend, Scott Erickson, a former pitcher for Major League teams including the Dodgers, before the two raced back toward Grossman’s lakeside home in separate vehicles — Grossman in a white Mercedes SUV and Erickson in a different, black Mercedes SUV model. Grossman was separated from her husband, Peter, at the time.

Two witnesses traveling in another vehicle testified during a preliminary hearing that they saw Erickson’s Mercedes speeding ahead of Grossman’s on the quiet street. Tony Buzbee, Grossman’s lead attorney, told jurors in opening statements that Erickson, now 56, struck both children first, throwing Jacob to the curb and Mark high into the air before he landed in the path of Grossman’s SUV. But during cross-examination Wednesday, Hale told Buzbee, “The crash point data ... shows she hit those children. There is data that supports two strikes.” Grossman is charged with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death. VAN NUYS, CA-APRIL 25, 2022: Rebecca Grossman, co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation, leaves Van Nuys Courthouse during a break from her preliminary hearing. Grossman is charged with murder and other counts stemming from a crash in Westlake Village that left two young brothers dead. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) CALIFORNIA Rebecca Grossman trial: Lawyer says police didn’t check other car in crash that killed 2 brothers

Jan. 17, 2024 Citing the vehicle data of Grossman’s Mercedes prior to the collision, Hale said she only lightly tapped her brakes, for just a second, dropping her speed slightly before taking her foot off the gas. Once the airbags were triggered, the Mercedes’ fuel system was cut off to prevent a fire and the vehicle coasted to a stop, calling the manufacturer’s emergency operator system. A sheriff’s deputy previously testified he found Grossman and her disabled vehicle three-tenths of a mile from the crash scene. Last week, a hospital technician testified that Grossman said in an emergency room after her arrest that she would have been home in her garage if the safety system had not disabled her vehicle. Buzbee on Wednesday questioned the accuracy of the black box data, noting it showed the Mercedes traveled 42,249 miles in 4,461 minutes, meaning it would have an average speed of 568 mph. Hale told jurors that while the five-second speed information collected by a car’s event data recorder is regulated and required by federal law to be accurate, the specifics on distance traveled and time are not subject to the same requirements. Hale said he believed the data error in this instance was an anomaly probably caused by the amount of time the vehicle had been driven before being reset at some point, adding that “that doesn’t invalidate the rest of the data.”

This woman needs to burn in hell.

A text message written by Rebecca Grossman, who is on trial for the murder of two boys killed in a car crash, reveals how the Hidden Hills socialite briefly turned her head while driving, distracted by a woman wearing inline skates. Prosecutors this week used Grossman’s own words to describe the Sept. 29, 2020, collision that killed 11-year-old Mark Iskander and his 8-year-old brother, Jacob. “I do take accountability,” Grossman wrote in a June 2022 text message to a friend, Rose Wiltshire. “I turned my head to the right probably one or two seconds longer than I should have when I saw a woman crashing on rollerblades on the right side of the road.” At the time of the crash, Nancy Iskander was wearing inline skates as she began to cross Triunfo Canyon Road at Saddle Mountain Drive in Westlake Village. Iskander said her youngest son, Zachary, was next to her on his scooter; older sons Mark, on a skateboard, and Jacob, wearing inline skates, were ahead in the marked crosswalk. Iskander previously testified that she heard revving engines and looked up to see a black sport utility vehicle speeding toward the intersection. She grabbed Zachary, then 5, and pulled him to safety as the SUV barreled past. But another SUV — a white Mercedes — was following closely behind, Iskander said. That vehicle was driven by Grossman.

“I did not know it at the time but it was the mom,” Grossman said to Wiltshire, who testified Wednesday about the messages from her friend of 20 years. “This grabbed my attention as it probably would anyone else’s. I guess [I] turned my head over my shoulder because the airbag burst on the left side of my face and the lower bag fractured my foot. Yes. I wish I had not turned my head.”

VAN NUYS, CA-APRIL 25, 2022: Rebecca Grossman, co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation, leaves Van Nuys Courthouse during a break from her preliminary hearing. Grossman is charged with murder and other counts stemming from a crash in Westlake Village that left two young brothers dead. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Feb. 8, 2024 Grossman, 60, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death in connection with the collision. The murder counts are somewhat unprecedented, as she was not charged with driving under the influence, typically used to prove gross negligence in vehicular fatalities. Prosecutors, however, have argued that Grossman was impaired. She had been drinking cocktails with Scott Erickson, a former pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, before the erstwhile lovers raced back from a restaurant in separate vehicles, heading to Grossman’s lakeside home. A breathalyzer test at the scene showed that Grossman had a blood alcohol level of about 0.075%; a blood test three hours later came back at 0.08%, California’s legal limit. Valium was also found in her system, two criminalists have testified. But by Grossman’s own admission, she was distracted.

I wasn’t texting or reaching for anything,” she told Wiltshire in another text. “I was surprised by the mom crashing on her rollerblades.” Tony Buzbee, Grossman’s lead attorney, acknowledged that his client’s words revealed she was distracted — but not that she struck the boys. “That is exactly what happened, and that makes a lot of common sense,” Buzbee said. “If I see a woman falling on Rollerblades, I may tap my foot on the brake, right?” Iskander boys CALIFORNIA Boy’s body bore the imprint of Mercedes front grille, medical examiner says at Grossman trial

But Grossman told a different story when speaking with a Mercedes dispatcher and a 911 operator the night of the crash, saying she didn’t know what had happened, only that her airbag had exploded. Her vehicle had been disabled by a system override after her airbag deployed following a collision; she coasted to a stop about a third of a mile from the crash scene, where Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies found her alongside the SUV, which had visible front-end damage.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge denied a request by Rebecca Grossman’s legal team to dismiss murder charges against her in the 2020 hit-and-run deaths of two boys, as prosecutors rested their case Friday.

Judge Joseph Brandolino said prosecutors presented sufficient evidence of voluntary intoxication and speeding in the incident that resulted in the deaths of Mark Iskander, 11, and his brother Jacob, 8, in a marked crosswalk as they were following their mother and younger brother across Triunfo Canyon Road in Westlake Village. “I do think they have met their burden, and the jury should decide. I am denying the motion without prejudice,” the judge said. Grossman’s lawyers are slated to begin their defense Tuesday.

After the last prosecution witness testified, John Hobson, one of Grossman’s attorneys, requested that the murder and hit-and-run charges be dismissed, arguing that the prosecutors had failed to show she acted with implied malice and that there was no evidence she fled the scene. Grossman’s attorney argued that prosecutors had not met the standard for second-degree murder because the suspect did not get formal prior admonition that her behavior was extremely dangerous and showed a reckless disregard for life.

Hobson said the only proof given by prosecutors of her prior admonition was a text Grossman sent a month before the incident concerning teens crashing a vehicle and evidence that in 2013, she received a speeding ticket that came with a warning by an officer about the dangers of speeding. Hobson also asked the judge to dismiss the hit-and-run allegation because Grossman stopped as soon as it was reasonable. “The fact is, Mrs. Grossman was a short distance from her home,” but she stayed with her vehicle, he told the judge.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Ryan Gould, however, said the prosecution showed implied malice and that Grossman knew the deadly consequences of speed because of the 2013 ticket for going 92 mph on the 101 Freeway, when she was warned of the deadly nature of her actions.

As for the hit-and-run charges, Gould noted that Grossman was found by a deputy a third of a mile from the site of the crash. “She never returned to the scene. She never provided assistance,” Gould said.

“We know from her text messages she saw a woman falling in the middle of the road,” he added in reference to a June 2022 text Grossman sent to a friend in which she said that at the time of the collision, she had been distracted by the boys’ mother, Nancy Iskander, who was wearing inline skates and had fallen in the crosswalk. The text, shown to jurors Wednesday, contradicted her account that she had no idea why her airbag had exploded.

Grossman, 60, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death in connection with the collision. The murder counts are unusual, as she was not charged with driving under the influence, which is typically used to prove gross negligence in vehicular fatalities.

Prosecutors, however, have argued that Grossman was impaired. She had been drinking cocktails with Scott Erickson, a former pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, before the erstwhile lovers raced back from a restaurant in separate vehicles, heading to Grossman’s lakeside home. A breathalyzer test at the scene showed that Grossman had a blood alcohol level of about 0.075%; a blood test three hours later came back at 0.08%, California’s legal limit. Valium was also found in her system, two criminalists have testified. Prosecutors rested their case with a retired California Highway Patrol officer turned crash expert, John Grindey, who testified that Grossman was going so fast that her Mercedes safety system couldn’t detect the two boys in the crosswalk to automatically apply the brakes.

VAN NUYS, CA - JANUARY 23: Rebecca Grossman, right, holding her husband Peter Grossman exits Van Nuys Courthouse West on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024 in Van Nuys, CA. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

CALIFORNIA ‘Where is Scott Erickson?’ Defense in Grossman murder trial seeks to pin blame on ex-Dodger

Emphasizing the repeated prosecution theme of deadly speed, Grindey said Grossman’s Mercedes 43 GLE approached the Triunfo Canyon Road crosswalk at 81 mph. “Over ... 44 mph, [the safety system] does not detect small children,” he told jurors. But Grindey, who handled hundreds of deadly crashes as an officer, acknowledged that Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies who oversaw the crash scene made several mistakes, including taking incorrect measurements and letting car parts from Grossman’s vehicle be tossed away. He also conceded under cross-examination by Tony Buzbee, Grossman’s attorney, that if he had known she was following Erickson’s Black AMG Mercedes through the crosswalk, he would have checked the former Dodgers pitcher’s vehicle. He said sheriff’s investigators did not do so at the time of the incident. “I think it would have been important to do that,” Grindey agreed with Buzbee.

Buzbee has argued that Grossman’s vehicle was not the first to hit the brothers. He has repeatedly indicated that Erickson’s black Mercedes, which sped through the intersection before hers, struck both children, throwing Jacob to the curb and Mark high into the air before he landed in the path of her SUV.

However, Grindey testified that such a scenario was an “impossibility” because Erickson’s Mercedes had a hood that was too high to send Mark flying upward. He said the damage to Grossman’s car and the height of its hood indicated that it was she who propeled Mark forward by striking him with the portion of the vehicle above the license plate and hit Jacob with the passenger-side headlight, sending him toward the curb.

Grindey said the debris from the crash began 50 feet from the point of impact, a pattern seen when traveling at 73 mph. Grindey said a photo of the crash scene showed a fog lamp, part of Grossman’s passenger light casing, and that Erikson’s vehicle had no such lights. He testified that a photo of a piece of license plate at the scene matched up to a part missing from Grossman’s plate holder. But he acknowledged that he had not seen those objects in person, because some evidence had been tossed away. Grindey said, however, that those errors did not change his opinion that Grossman hit the brothers.

Buzbee has told jurors he plans to show that the boys were following their mother across the crosswalk. During a court demonstration, Buzbee showed how Mark, who was riding a skateboard, would have turned his back to a vehicle that hit him. That would be consistent with the injuries to his back area, Buzbee said.

They should have checked out the boyfriend's car, too. Big mistake not to have done that.

100% R48.

This thing about being distracted by a woman falling from her roller blades. Wouldn't a motorist's first impulse be to slow down upon seeing a person fall in the street almost in the path of their car?

BTW, Grossman's text to her friend is the first I've heard of Nancy Iskander taking a fall.

[quoteJan. 10, 2023 Yasamin Eftekhari testified she was driving an SUV in which Sands was a passenger when she saw a black vehicle and a white vehicle speeding past her on the left. “[bold]There was a family walking in the crosswalk, and two little boys got struck[/bold]. I only noticed the first one,” she testified. “I saw the white vehicle go straight toward that one boy.”

This is odd because the mom was on rollerblades and she was skating near her youngest child who was on a scooter, and one of the older boys who was killed was on a skateboard and the other boy who was killed was on rollerblades. The only person walking was the dad who wasn't in the crosswalk; he was 100 yards away pushing a stroller and didn't see anything that happened. (I'm not at all questioning Rebecca Grossman's guilt, it's just strange that an eyewitness used the word walking instead of rollerblading/skateboarding.)

[quote]Jan. 10, 2023 Yasamin Eftekhari testified she was driving an SUV in which Sands was a passenger when she saw a black vehicle and a white vehicle speeding past her on the left. “There was a family walking in the crosswalk, and two little boys got struck. I only noticed the first one,” she testified. “I saw the white vehicle go straight toward that one boy.”

This is odd because the mom was on rollerblades and she was skating near her youngest child who was on a scooter, and one of the older boys who was killed was on a skateboard and the other boy who was killed was on rollerblades. The only person walking was the dad who wasn't in the crosswalk; he was 100 yards away pushing a stroller and didn't see anything that happened. (I'm not at all questioning Rebecca Grossman's guilt, it's just strange that an eyewitness used the word walking instead of rollerblading/skateboarding.)

I see what you mean, r52. The only references I'd seen prior about the mother *did not* have her on rollerblades or falling.

It almost seems like "releasing" Grossman's alleged recollections in a text to a friend well after the accident is a post hoc ploy on the part of the defense to plant seeds of doubt in the jury. It's super-shady and weird the judge allowed it.

[quote]The only references I'd seen prior about the mother *did not* have her on rollerblades or falling.

That makes sense. And I think I saw somewhere (in one of the articles I skimmed) that the older child was carrying his skateboard, which could explain why the eyewitness saw him walking, not skateboarding.

It was a September evening in 2020 when Nancy Iskander and her three sons approached a marked crosswalk in their upscale suburban L.A. neighborhood. As Iskander would later testify, she saw a black sport utility vehicle speeding toward the Westlake Village intersection as the family crossed. She grabbed her 5-year-old, Zachary, pulling him to safety, as a black Mercedes SUV barreled past.

But another SUV — a white Mercedes — was following closely behind, Iskander said. Her older sons — 11-year-old Mark and 8-year-old Jacob — were farther into the intersection, and Iskander said she lost sight of them when she jumped out of the way.

In a matter of seconds, two of her four children were gone. She found Jacob near the curb, his heart still beating, but lying still, like he was sleeping, she said. Authorities say he was thrown about 50 feet in the collision. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead a few hours later. Mark’s body was 254 feet away, “every bone in his body ... broken,” Iskander testified.

A jury in Van Nuys is now hearing evidence in the case against Rebecca Grossman, the driver of the white Mercedes, who has been criminally charged in the deaths of the Iskander brothers. The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office has presented its case, and the defense will begin this week. Here is a review of the murder trial against the Hidden Hills socialite from the pages of The Times: Rebecca Grossman, co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation Rebecca Grossman, co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) Who is Rebecca Grossman?

Los Angeles County prosecutors say Grossman was behind the wheel of the white Mercedes GLE 43 AMG the night of Sept. 29, 2020. Authorities say she was driving as fast as 81 mph and traveled a third of a mile after slamming into the children before her car shut down. Grossman, 60, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death. If convicted of all charges, she faces 34 years to life in prison. She is a well-known figure in the local community. Grossman founded the Grossman Burn Foundation with her husband, Dr. Peter Grossman, whose family created the eponymous renowned medical facility.

Who is Scott Erickson?

Scott Erickson, a former pitcher for the Dodgers, was behind the wheel of the black SUV that sped through the intersection the night the Iskander boys were killed. Prior to the crash, Grossman and Erickson had been drinking cocktails at a nearby restaurant, Julio’s Agave Grill, according to witnesses. Grossman was separated from her husband, Peter, at the time, and she and Erickson, 56, were having a romantic relationship.

Joining them was another retired baseball player, Royce Clayton, who testified that Erickson drank two margaritas and Grossman one. They all agreed to meet afterward at Grossman’s home and watch a presidential debate, he told the jury.

Clayton, now the baseball coach at Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village, testified that he never went to Grossman’s home because he learned of the crash after speaking with Erickson by phone a few hours later. When asked whether he was still friends with Erickson, who has denied any wrongdoing, the former All-Star shortstop said, “No.” “I have kids. ... I just don’t understand how he could be so negligent and be responsible for running down kids,” Clayton said.

Grossman’s attorneys claim Erickson is responsible for the fatalities because his vehicle struck the boys first — a claim prosecutors say is untrue. Nancy Iskander has testified that Erickson’s black SUV never hit her sons — but it could have killed her and her youngest son if she hadn’t dived out of the way and pulled him to safety in the bike lane.

“I know she killed them,” Iskander testified earlier this month, saying she has no doubt it was the white SUV she now knows was driven by Grossman that fatally struck her two sons.

Three eyewitnesses to the deadly crash testified that they saw one but not both boys hit by the white SUV or a light-colored vehicle. Another expert witness testified that Erickson denied hitting anyone that night but did see the boys and a reflective scooter, which Iskander had said Zachary was riding. Erickson was initially charged with misdemeanor reckless driving after the crash, but that was dismissed after he made a public service announcement about the importance of safe driving.

His lawyer, Mark Werksman, said he does not plan to address the issues being raised in the Grossman trial, but added, “This may change over the course of the coming days [or] weeks.”

What do we expect from the defense?

Grossman’s defense team, led by Tony Buzbee, is expected to present its case beginning Tuesday and Buzbee has already given a strong indication of his plans. Buzbee told jurors in opening statements he would prove that Erickson hid in nearby bushes after the crash and watched as Grossman was taken into custody. Alexis Grossman, the defendant’s daughter, is expected to testify that she came to the scene, where she saw her mother’s car and Erickson, a one-time World Series winner, lurking nearby and watching investigators. She also is expected to reveal comments he made to her.

The defense is expected to further a previous allegation that Erickson was not driving a black 2007 Mercedes SUV that night, as he reported to authorities. Buzbee alleged in his opening statement that Erickson was actually driving a black 2016 Mercedes GL63 AMG, a powerful V-8 version of the SUV. Investigators and experts have already conceded on the witness stand that deputies did not examine his vehicle.

Witnesses are likely to be called to testify about photos of the newer vehicle and whether it was seen in the immediate aftermath of the fatal crash. Significant failures in gathering broken car parts from Triunfo Canyon Road and procedural failures by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department are also expected to be the subject of testimony.

Buzbee will put on witnesses seeking to undermine the “black box” of Grossman’s SUV — its event data recorder — which, according to investigators showed she hit speeds of 81 mph and was traveling 73 mph at the time of impact in the crosswalk. During the prosecution’s presentation, Buzbee repeatedly suggested Grossman was going far slower and Erickson was in the faster vehicle.

Similarly, the defense will seek to undermine suggestions that a positive test for Valium and a blood alcohol level of at or slightly below 0.08% — California’s legal limit — would leave a driver impaired.

Going 81 MPH on a 45 MPH street is ridiculous. I can see why initial reports thought she and her boyfriend were street racing. The Dodgers guy seems more guilty than charged, but that doesn't make the defendant any less guilty. The mom skating with the three boys and the dad pushing another one in a stroller sounds like such a close family. Can't imagine the nightmare they're living. So tragic, and so completely avoidable if the drivers had behaved like responsible adults.

FEB. 14, 2024 3 AM PT

The husband of Rebecca Grossman testified Tuesday that he has ridden in the car with her hundreds of times and could not ever recall her speeding, despite testimony during her murder trial that shows she was traveling 81 mph in a 45-mph zone when two children were struck and killed on a residential street. Dr. Peter Grossman, the head of the Grossman Burn Center, was the first witness to take the stand for the defense, but prosecutors immediately aimed to focus his attention on his wife’s driving habits.

Rebecca Grossman is accused of racing her high-powered Mercedes SUV on a quiet Westlake Village street, driving behind her then-lover as the two sped home after drinking cocktails at a nearby restaurant on Sept. 29, 2020. Investigators say she barely braked before fatally striking Mark and Jacob Iskander, who were in a marked crosswalk. She is charged with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of vehicular of manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death in connection with the fatal collision.

Peter Grossman explained that he and his wife were separated at the time of the crash. He testified that the couple had been married for 20 years and were cohabiting “under the same roof” but were living separate lives then and dating other people. Rebecca Grossman was romantically involved with former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson in 2020, her husband said from the witness stand.

Lead defense attorney Tony Buzbee has repeatedly told jurors that Erickson is responsible for the deaths of the Iskander brothers. He has suggested that the retired baseball player’s high-powered black Mercedes sped through the intersection first, hitting Jacob and tossing him to the curb and slamming into Mark, whose body was thrown high into the air before landing in the path of Grossman’s white Mercedes.

But witnesses for the prosecution say that had Grossman not been speeding, she would not have struck the boys at all. And a California Highway Patrol officer previously testified he ticketed her for driving 92 mph on the 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills a decade ago. Deputy. Dist. Atty. Jamie Castro on Tuesday asked Peter Grossman if he ever recalled his wife speeding while he was a passenger in her car, and the surgeon replied: “I don’t have a recollection of that.”

“Out of the hundreds of times you drove with her, you don’t have a recollection of her driving over the speed limit?” Castro pressed. “That is correct,” the doctor said.

Castro earlier read into the court record, outside the jurors’ presence, that Rebecca Grossman was ticketed for speeding four times between 2000 and 2020. Prosecutors have also alleged that the “black box” — the event data recorder inside Rebecca Grossman’s vehicle — tells a different tale. The last five seconds of Grossman’s travels the night of the crash were captured. The data show she was speeding up to 81 mph and tapped the brakes a second and a half — which dropped her speed to 73 mph — before a collision triggered her airbags.

However, David Notowitz, an audio and video expert who examined three security videos from a home and boathouse past the crosswalk where the boys were killed, said data show Grossman’s Mercedes was traveling at a significantly slower speed. He said an examination of video that captured vehicles passing a short distance from the crosswalk shows Grossman driving 51.9 mph, while the black car in front of her — driven by Erickson — was going 72 mph. Notowitz said he used the trees in the backdrop to measure the speed over distance. In a second video recorded farther down the road, past the crosswalk, he determined Grossman was going 52.7 mph, he testified.

Still, Buzbee has repeatedly argued that Rebecca Grossman’s vehicle was not the first to strike the boys. He told jurors during opening statements that Erickson lied to authorities the night of the crash when he told them he was driving a 2007 Mercedes SUV.

Peter Grossman testified he had never seen that vehicle outside the second home he shared with his wife when she and Erickson were dating. The doctor instead testified that he saw Erickson’s 2016 Mercedes 63GL AMG outside the Grossmans’ home in Westlake Village on many occasions. The Grossmans’ primary home was in Hidden Hills. Buzbee has argued that sheriff’s investigators never checked Erickson’s vehicle for damage and said that after the crash, he hid in the bushes near where Rebecca Grossman’s disabled vehicle stopped and watched as investigators took her into custody.

Peter Grossman testified that after the collision, his wife was overcome with grief and badly bruised. The defense showed images of the socialite’s heavily bruised arm, the left side of her face and her foot, which she told a friend in a text message was fractured.

“My wife was almost inconsolable — crying, trembling, incredibly emotional” after her release from a Lynwood jail 30 hours after the fatal crash, Grossman said.

I don't think Mr. Grossman's descriptions of his wife's bruising and emotional state and the photos of her arm, face and foot are going to go over well with the jury after seeing the Iskander brothers dead and broken bodies.

[quote]“My wife was almost inconsolable — crying, trembling, incredibly emotional” after her release from a Lynwood jail 30 hours after the fatal crash, Grossman said.

Of course she was emotional. She spent 30 hours forced to think about the horrific situation she caused and how serious the charges would likely be. Was she crying for the boys and their family, or for herself and her possible future behind bars?

I was just looking for an update and see that the retired baseball player who was at the restaurant with Grossman and Erickson prior to the accident and who testified that she had one margarita and Erickson had two, was arrested Sunday morning for a DUI. Same guy who told the defense attorney in court that he was no longer friends with Erickson because "I have kids. I just don’t understand how he could be so negligent and be responsible for running down kids." Okay, then.

Great catch (no pun), r67. The restaurant was long closed and they probably couldn't find the server to testify, if s/he wasn't long bought off by the Grossmans. Poor retired Dodger might lose his coaching position at the Christian school...

No treated me like this when I lit my Virginia Slim. I didn’t see him. It was LA and dark.

She hit the boys so hard that her airbags deployed? Jesus.

[quote]As deputies questioned Rebecca Grossman on the night of the crash that left two young brothers dead in Westlake Village, her then-lover was nearby, hiding behind a tree, Grossman’s daughter testified Friday.

[quote]Alexis Grossman told jurors that the man in question, former Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson, showed up to the family’s home shortly thereafter. She said he smelled of alcohol, and threatened her and her family if she told investigators what she had seen.

[quote]“Why did your mom stop? Why did your mom stop?” she said Erickson told her. “He seemed very angry. He was frantic. I could smell alcohol on him. He was freaking out. I was scared.”

[quote]She said he gave her a warning: “Don’t tell anyone you saw me, or I will ruin you and your family.”

[quote]Alexis Grossman’s tearful testimony was presented to bolster the defense argument that Erickson — not her mother — was the first to hit Mark and Jacob Iskander

How thoroughly vile they’ve set the kid up to spout BS. Disgusting. The simplest resolution to the him vs her crap is to show pictures of Scott’s car. Is there damage? Seems simple to me.

The sheriff's deputies never inspected the car which was subsequently sold and can't be found. Yeah, pretty vile about the kid. Of course, they couldn't find and security tapes from the thoroughly well-protected mansion capturing this terrifying interaction unfold literally right on their front doorstep. Frantic, threatened millionaire's daughter didn't call the police or private security, I assume.

Rebecca Grossman, accused of killing two boys with her SUV, will not testify in her trial

BY RICHARD WINTON | STAFF WRITER FEB. 20, 2024 6:18 PM PT

Rebecca Grossman, accused of running down two young boys in a Westlake Village crosswalk, won’t be testifying in her murder trial.

In a near-whisper, the Hidden Hills resident told the judge Tuesday that she was opting not to address jurors. Grossman’s lead attorney, Tony Buzbee, then rested the defense. With that move, Friday’s emotional testimony from Grossman’s daughter Alexis became the last word from defense witnesses. Closing arguments will be presented Wednesday in the six-week trial, which has included graphic details, emotional outbursts and harrowing, often surprising testimony. Alexis Grossman told jurors on Friday that the night Mark Iskander, 11, and his brother Jacob, 8, were run down in a crosswalk, she had a frightening encounter with former Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson, with whom her mother was romantically involved. The 19-year-old said that after the crash, she saw Erickson hiding behind a nearby tree. She testified that he smelled of alcohol and threatened to “ruin” her and her family if she told investigators what she’d seen.

On Tuesday, seeking to counter the teenager’s testimony, prosecutors called on Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Cody Gaudet, who testified that no one had been reported hiding in the area where Alexis Grossman said she saw Erickson.

“Nobody called in someone hiding in the bushes,” Gaudet testified. “We go to calls like that all the time in Westlake Village.” He said residents of the upscale neighborhood are vigilant and that a person hiding near the scene of a fatality would have drawn deputies’ attention. Buzbee asked the deputy if a person could have parked on a side road. “They could,” Gaudet replied.

Rebecca Grossman, 60, faces two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit-and-run driving. She’s accused of driving her white Mercedes SUV in a 45-mph zone on Triunfo Canyon Road at speeds reaching 81 mph before hitting the brothers while traveling at more than 70 mph. Prosecutors say the boys were following their mother and 5-year-old brother through a crosswalk.

Investigators testifying for the prosecution told jurors that Grossman wouldn’t have hit the boys if she had been driving at the speed limit. They said that after the collision, she didn’t stop for three-tenths of a mile, after her airbags had deployed and the vehicle’s fuel cut-off safety system caused the SUV to come to a halt. Alexis Grossman’s tearful testimony was presented to bolster the defense argument that Erickson — not Rebecca Grossman — was the first to strike the boys on the night of Sept. 29, 2020.

Rebecca Grossman had been with Erickson that night at a Westlake Village restaurant, where they had cocktails. She was following closely behind Erickson when she drove through the crosswalk.

Buzbee has maintained that it was the black Mercedes SUV driven by Erickson that first hit the brothers and that one boy was tossed onto Grossman’s hood. He presented witnesses who testified that she was driving responsibly, was not impaired and was traveling at no more than 52 mph. The defense also contends that the incident occurred outside the crosswalk.

On Friday, in Grossman’s first comment on the six-week trial, she told a Times reporter that prosecutors didn’t care about getting to the bottom of what happened. Through tears, she said the prosecutors “aren’t truth seekers” as they blocked efforts by her attorneys to ask questions about evidence that was barred before trial by the judge. Time and again on Tuesday as he questioned witnesses, Buzbee asked if Erickson’s 2016 Mercedes AMG GL63 had been examined — the primary investigators have admitted they did not do so — and asked if efforts were made to find Erickson.

Jurors have heard testimony that Erickson told investigators he was driving a 2007 Mercedes the night of the incident; images from video show it was more likely his 2016 Mercedes. An investigator admitted that he found out Erickson used the same license plate on both vehicles — if true, a felony offense. On Tuesday, a crash reconstruction expert for the prosecution pushed back against statements by a defense expert witness that the discovery of one of the bodies 254 feet from the crosswalk was because it rolled after being struck. John Grindey, a former California Highway Patrol officer, said there was no evidence to support that scenario. Buzbee presented a chart to show what he said was conflicting testimony in the case. Witnesses had differed on the lane where the boys were struck and how many impacts occurred. Some said the left lane, some the right, and some heard or saw one or two impacts.

The chart included an image of a man scratching his head. Deputy Dist. Atty. Jamie Castro objected to the image, which Buzbee said was of himself. Grindey commented that it “appears to be you.”

R75 thanks for posting these. I can't find good updates and I have been coming here for them. The fact that she did not testify on her own behalf will be difficult for the defense. The jurors will want to hear from her about what she did that night and will wonder (although instructed not to) why she didn't testify. That might be enough to get to a verdict. In my opinion, the defense has created reasonable doubt about who struck those kids, but I don't think it's enough.

Thank you R76. The posts are from the LA Times (shhhhhhh). I was out of town so missed a couple of days but it doesn’t seem to matter much. The one thing that hasn’t been asked about and needs to be is pictures of the boyfriend’s car. I don’t believe for a second he hit the kids but a simple picture would clear that right up. Weird.

Can’t for for this entitled bitch to be jailed.

There isn't one because the police didn't examine the boyfriend's car, at least that's what I've picked up from your articles (and thank you for that -- no access due to repeated violation of the three-article rule). That's why there is reasonable doubt introduced. The defense can argue that the real perpetrator's car wasn't examined for evidence and cast suspicion on Erickson. However, I think the fact that she won't testify MIGHT balance out the scale toward beyond a reasonable doubt for a jury. Mind you, I'm just a lawyer who has to read the minds of random people for a living.

I didn't MEAN to do it- "Impact trumps Intent"

The jury starts deliberating tomorrow. Defense attorneys are probably putting the finishing touches on their sentencing-mitigation strategy which will involve her work at her husband's burn center.

The exact imprint and height of her Mercedes front grill, not her lovers, on at least one of the victims, should seal the conviction.

I think her daughter's spectacle testimony about the allegedly inebriated, threatening Erickson on the Grossman's family doorstep was a huge misstep. Don't these exclusive people have even more rigorous security when raving drunks show up on their doorsteps?

That it was never caught on tape or reported to security is another problem. A threatened millionaire's daughter in a presumably well-surveilled mansion wasn't noticed several minutes after the crash or noted/reported?

Maybe I'm giving too much credit to the jury which comes from an area with above average educational achievement.

Did Rebecca Grossman commit murder? Prosecutors say she alone struck two boys with her SUV

A Los Angeles County prosecutor told jurors Wednesday there is overwhelming evidence that Rebecca Grossman committed double murder by racing her Mercedes SUV with her then-lover and hitting two brothers in Westlake Village more than three years ago.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Jamie Castro said in her closing statement that Grossman was going 73 mph when she fatally struck Mark and Jacob Iskander, ages 11 and 8, in a marked crosswalk on Triunfo Canyon Road.

“This was not a tragic accident,” Castro said. “This was murder.” Grossman, 60, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death. If convicted of all charges, she faces 34 years to life in prison. Iskander boys

Rebecca Grossman, accused of killing two boys with her SUV, will not testify in her trial

To secure a second-degree murder conviction, prosecutors must prove that Grossman acted with implied malice and knew the act of driving at a high speed in a residential area was dangerous to human life.

Castro argued the prosecution had done just that. Grossman, Castro said, showed conscious disregard for human life and knew her speed could be dangerous on a suburban street with pedestrian traffic because she had been warned of the dangers by police in the past. Prosecutors also have alleged that Grossman traveled a third of a mile after slamming into the children before safety features in her car automatically shut it down.

“She had a history of speeding. She’d texted about it,” Castro said. “She acted with disregard for human life.” Tony Buzbee, Grossman’s lead attorney, has throughout the trial pointed the finger at her then-boyfriend, Scott Erickson, who was the first to barrel through the crosswalk. Crash reconstruction experts for the defense have testified that the Mercedes SUV driven by the former Dodgers pitcher hit the boys first, sending Mark over his vehicle and onto the hood of Grossman’s vehicle.

Defense in Grossman murder trial keeps ex-Dodger Scott Erickson the center of attention

But although Castro said Erickson was reckless, she said there was “not a shred of evidence” that he struck Mark or his brother. “He almost hit them, but did not hit them,” Castro said.

It was around 7 p.m. on Sept. 29, 2020, when Nancy Iskander and her three sons approached the crosswalk. Wearing inline skates, Iskander began to cross Triunfo Canyon Road at Saddle Mountain Drive. Her youngest son, Zachary, was next to her on his scooter; Mark, on a skateboard, and Jacob, also wearing inline skates, were also in the crosswalk. “The mother did everything right,” Castro said. “Rebecca Grossman did everything wrong.”

VAN NUYS, CA-APRIL 25, 2022: Nancy Iskander and her husband Karim leave Van Nuys Courthouse during a lunch break from a preliminary hearing for Rebecca Grossman who is charged with murder and other counts stemming from a crash in Westlake Village that left the Iskander's sons Mark Iskander, 11, and Jacob Iskander, 8, dead. Nancy Iskander took the witness stand and testified to the moment her sons were killed by Grossman's Mercedes as they were walking in the crosswalk on Triunfo Canyon Rd. In. Westlake. Village. (Mel Tearful mom describes horror as car sped through intersection, killing her 2 sons

Iskander previously testified that she heard revving engines and looked up to see a black sport utility vehicle speeding toward the intersection. She dove out of the way, pulling Zachary to safety.

But she testified that a white Mercedes SUV was following closely behind the black vehicle. When it went through the crosswalk, Iskander said, she heard an impact and her two oldest boys were gone.

Jacob was found near the curb about 50 feet from the crosswalk. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead a few hours later. Mark’s body was found 254 feet away.

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA - SEPTEMBER 30: Lorraine Maralian and her son Anthony Maralian of Westlake Village place flowers and pray at a growing memorial for two brothers who were fatally injured while crossing Triunfo Canyon Road at Saddle Mountain Drive in their Westlake Village neighborhood with their family at 7:10 pm Tuesday evening. Rebecca Grossman, 57, a co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation was arrested on two counts of vehicular manslaughter in the death of the two juvenile pedestrians that were in the crosswalk and is being held on $2 million bail. Westlake Village on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020 in Westlake Village, CA. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

Castro told jurors that one witness, Susan Manners, testified that she saw Grossman’s vehicle hit Mark. Yasamin Eftekhari and Jake Sands, who were driving in a car behind Grossman’s Mercedes, testified that they saw the white car hit Jacob. Eftekhari, Castro noted, testified the black car never hit the boys. Castro reminded jurors that before the crash Grossman had a margarita at a friend’s home and then another at a nearby restaurant, Julio’s Agave Grill. Joining her at the restaurant were Erickson and his friend Royce Clayton, also a former professional baseball player. Although Grossman was not charged with driving under the influence, prosecutors say she was impaired by alcohol and Valium at the time of the crash.

Castro said Grossman was familiar with the area where the roadway and crosswalk are. Investigators found she had made more than 7,000 texts and calls in the vicinity. Even after the impact, Grossman “continued to drive as far as her car would let her,” Castro said.

Although Grossman told a Mercedes operator and 911 dispatcher that she didn’t know what happened, only that her airbag had deployed, Castro said a text Grossman sent to a friend showed “she was not honest.” In that text, presented earlier in the trial, Grossman wrote she had turned her head for two or three seconds and was distracted by Nancy Iskander, who was falling on her inline skates.

“The defendant is either lying or clearly impaired,” Castro said.

‘I wish I had not looked away’: Grossman’s texts show she was distracted before crash

Castro conceded there were shortcomings in the investigation by the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department — with evidence missing and few photos of the scene. But during the trial, a former California Highway Patrol officer turned crash expert was able to re-create the scene. The prosecutor pushed back on the defense theory that Erickson struck the brothers first, saying the front-end damage to Grossman’s vehicle was not “the result of a child landing on the hood.”

She reminded jurors that pathologist Matthew Miller, who conducted the autopsy, testified that the boys’ injuries were consistent with a single vehicle hitting them.

Castro also repudiated testimony from Grossman’s daughter, Alexis, who told jurors that she saw Erickson hiding behind a tree near where her mother was detained and that he later angrily burst into her family’s home in Westlake Village. She said he smelled of alcohol and threatened to ruin her and her family if she told anyone she saw him. “Alexis is a victim of her mother’s manipulation,” Castro said, noting that a deputy at the scene testified he never saw Erickson and that no one there reported his presence.

2 children dead; Rebecca Grossman says she’s no murderer. Justice is now in the hands of the jury

Prosecutors have offered an unflinching description of Rebecca Grossman. Impaired by alcohol and Valium, they allege, she recklessly sped her Mercedes through a residential neighborhood, chasing her ex-Dodger boyfriend before killing two young boys in a crosswalk.

The question now is whether jurors will believe this portrayal of a killer or see something more nuanced in the tragic events of that evening in Westlake Village three years ago. Grossman’s defense has challenged many parts of the prosecution’s case, casting blame on her then-boyfriend, and insisting that she didn’t intend to hurt anyone and was deeply remorseful about the boys’ deaths.

Rebecca Grossman trial goes to jury with central question: Murderer or scapegoat?

Feb. 22, 2024

The jury is being asked to determine whether Grossman is guilty of two counts of murder, two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter and one count of hit and run resulting in death. If convicted of all charges, she faces 34 years to life in prison. To secure a second-degree murder conviction, prosecutors must prove that Grossman acted with implied malice and knew that the act of driving at a high speed in a residential area was dangerous to human life.

But the jury could also settle on lesser charges, which would bring a significantly lighter sentence. Jurors will be able to consider vehicular manslaughter with ordinary negligence if they acquit her of those charges involving gross negligence. The lesser form of vehicular manslaughter can result in a year in jail. Or they could, as Grossman’s attorneys have argued, find her not guilty.

Louis Shapiro, a Los Angeles defense attorney not associated with the case, said the defense has an uphill battle — but, he noted, the seriousness of the charges filed by prosecutors also is a potential barrier to a conviction.

“Some jurors might find it difficult to render a murder conviction simply for the fact that this is not the typical scenario where one would expect murder charges to be brought,” Shapiro said. “They may feel a manslaughter conviction is more appropriate, and such a disagreement among jurors could result in a hung jury.” Jurors were presented with two very different versions of the Hidden Hills woman and the Sept. 29, 2020, incident that ended the lives of Mark and Jacob Iskander, ages 11 and 8, respectively.

“This was not a tragic accident,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Jamie Castro said in Wednesday’s closing arguments. “This was murder.” But Grossman’s lead attorney, Tony Buzbee, launched into his closing statement with words he’d repeated throughout the six-week trial: “Where is Scott Erickson?” Prosecutors allege Grossman, 60, had cocktails with Erickson, a former Dodgers pitcher, and then raced with him — he in his black Mercedes sport utility vehicle and she in her white Mercedes SUV — along Triunfo Canyon Road until they reached a crosswalk, where she fatally struck the Iskander brothers.

Grossman, Castro said, showed conscious disregard for human life and knew her speed could be dangerous on a suburban street with pedestrian traffic because she had been warned of the dangers by police in the past. Prosecutors also have alleged that Grossman traveled a third of a mile after slamming into the children before safety features in her car automatically shut it down.

She had a history of speeding. She’d texted about it,” Castro said. “She acted with disregard for human life.”

Defense in Grossman murder trial keeps ex-Dodger Scott Erickson the center of attention

But Buzbee continued to point the finger at Erickson, who was the first to barrel through the crosswalk. Crash reconstruction experts for the defense have testified that Erickson’s Mercedes hit the boys first, sending Mark over his vehicle and onto the hood of Grossman’s vehicle. Nancy Iskander and her husband Karim

“If you have doubt that the black car hit one of those children, this case is over,” said Buzbee, who told jurors that Erickson allegedly lied to authorities about the vehicle he was driving. He said it was a 2007 Mercedes SUV, but defense experts testified based on video a short distance from the collision that it was a 2016 AMG Mercedes, which authorities never inspected.]

Castro told jurors that — although Erickson was reckless — there was “not a shred of evidence” that he struck Mark or his brother: “He almost hit them but did not hit them.” It was around 7 p.m. on Sept. 29, 2020, when Nancy Iskander and her three sons approached the crosswalk. Wearing inline skates, Iskander began to cross Triunfo Canyon Road at Saddle Mountain Drive. Her youngest son, Zachary, was next to her on his scooter; Mark, on a skateboard, and Jacob, also wearing inline skates, were also in the crosswalk. “The mother did everything right,” Castro said. “Rebecca Grossman did everything wrong.”

Iskander previously testified that she heard revving engines and looked up to see a black SUV speeding toward the intersection. She dove out of the way, pulling Zachary to safety. But she testified that a white Mercedes SUV was following closely behind the black vehicle. When it went through the crosswalk, Iskander said, she heard an impact, and her two oldest boys were gone.

Jacob was found near the curb about 50 feet from the crosswalk. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead a few hours later. Mark’s body was found 254 feet away.

Grossman is accused of reaching 81 mph before lightly braking and hitting the brothers at 73 mph, based on the car’s data recorder and the distance Mark was found from the crosswalk. But Buzbee called in experts who testified that the data weren’t reliable and that Grossman was traveling at 52 mph based on a video captured seconds after the collision. The prosecutor pushed back on the defense theory that Erickson struck the brothers first, saying the front-end damage to Grossman’s vehicle was not “the result of a child landing on the hood.”

Castro reminded jurors that pathologist Matthew Miller, who conducted the autopsy, testified that the boys’ injuries were consistent with a single vehicle hitting them. Buzbee countered that Miller, in what he considered the strongest indication of reasonable doubt, acknowledged the “possibility” that they could have been hit by more than one car. Buzbee focused on flaws in the investigation, presenting a visual on the TV monitor with an L.A. County sheriff’s badge and the words “amateur hour.” He said investigators lost five of eight pieces of evidence from the crash scene and didn’t speak to Erickson. He said investigators ignored other cars on surveillance video and focused on Grossman: “They had a busted-up car, and the blinders were on.”

“This is an accident,” Buzbee insisted, saying the medical examiner had termed it as such, and not a homicide. Castro conceded there were shortcomings in the investigation by the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department — with evidence missing and few photos of the scene. But during the trial, a former California Highway Patrol officer turned crash expert was able to re-create the scene.

The deputy district attorney also repudiated testimony from Grossman’s daughter, Alexis, who told jurors Friday that she saw Erickson hiding behind a tree near where her mother was detained and that he later angrily burst into her family’s home in Westlake Village. She said he smelled of alcohol and threatened to “ruin” her and her family if she told anyone she saw him.

“Alexis is a victim of her mother’s manipulation,” Castro said, noting that a deputy at the scene testified he never saw Erickson and that no one there reported his presence. Buzbee stood behind the 19-year-old’s testimony, asking jurors, “Why did [Erickson] lie? Why did he make threats?” Castro stressed eyewitness testimony in her closing argument. She reminded jurors that one witness, Susan Manners, testified that she saw Grossman’s vehicle hit Mark. Yasamin Eftekhari and Jake Sands, who were driving in a car behind Grossman’s Mercedes, testified that they saw the white car hit Jacob. Eftekhari, Castro noted, testified the black car never hit the boys.

Shapiro on Thursday described the defense as spirited but potentially flawed. “The defense is arguing that there is reasonable doubt as to whether Grossman actually struck and killed the kids,” he said. “The problem with that argument is that there were two eyewitnesses who testified that Grossman’s car struck the children and the location of the damage on Grossman’s car was in front of her car — consistent with the vehicle hitting the children.”

But Lara Yeretsian, another L.A. defense attorney, said “putting another suspect to the sword may muddy up the waters enough to get an acquittal or a hung jury.” “Remember,” she said, “the prosecution has to establish causation beyond a reasonable doubt. If the evidence is not clear as to causation, then that is reasonable doubt.”

The approbation punishment is obvious.

Take this vile woman and make her stand in the road in front the courthouse while a car bears down on her going 81 mph. After that, she’s free to go.

^appropriate

News: verdict to be read today at 4:00.

Don't be an irresponsible asshole and drive under the influence, and these things won't happen. I wonder if we'll get to see the inevitable guilty verdict? It would be nice to have clips to discuss here (which we will, regardless).

GUILTY, two counts of second degree murder!!

GUILTY of 4 additional counts

She will rot in jail. Socialite my ass!

I hope they took her into custody immediately. Flight risk.

Justice!

Good, she was taken into custody and she needs to sit in prison until sentencing.

Wow! Justice served! I kind of knew it would because the preponderance of evidence, but I had some doubts. Normally rich people skate; not so more.

Unimaginably sad tragedy for the family, and sounds like a dramatic and awful day in court for everyone:

[quote]My family has been waiting for this for three and a half years now,” Nancy Iskander, the boys’ mother, said after the decision was announced. “I give glory to God.”

[quote]Grossman’s lead attorney, Tony Buzbee, called the verdict unexpected and vowed to appeal.

[quote]As the guilty verdict was read aloud in court, Alexis Grossman, Rebecca’s daughter, cried out, “Oh my God, Oh my God,” as tears ran down her cheeks.

[quote]Rebecca Grossman, also with tears streaking her face, turned toward her daughter to try to calm her, as Peter Grossman hugged Alexis.

[quote]Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Joseph Brandolino said justice could no longer be delayed, and a deputy moved to handcuff Grossman.

[quote]Alexis Grossman screamed as her mother was taken into custody. Her mother begged her to stop before being escorted from the courtroom.

.......

I didn't realize the verdict was out! Thanks. And we'll see if justice is done at sentencing.

She's 60 years old and will, most likely, spend the rest of her life in prison. If she had called an Uber instead of driving, those poor boys would still be alive.

When she hits state prison, there will be a bidding war on who gets to violate Rebecca first.

They don't get a shot at a mutli-millionaire murdering Bitch like Rebecca Grossman. State Prisons for women where Rebecca will be going are horrible smelly dangerous places. It couldn't happen to a nicer person.

You should have called an Uber Bitch

Didn't take long for the jury to come to a verdict. Not surprised, given the facts, and despite the expensive, slick lawyers the Grossmans hired. I have an indirect connection to the victims' family and am so relieved by the verdict. Looking forward to sentencing. Ms. Grossman's greed and arrogance won her a life sentence vs. what could have been a shorter sentence.

Philly whore, you misunserestimate. The other prisoners will know who she is and will expect their prisoner commissary accounts replenished frequently. She may become fake popular.

And she'll lead a charmed life behind bars and spread joy around unless she faces another convict who lost her children to another rich woman in a violent death

Rebecca Grossman guilty in killing of two young brothers

A jury on Friday found Rebecca Grossman guilty in the killing of two young brothers who were crossing a street in a Westlake Village residential neighborhood when her speeding Mercedes hit them.

The verdict caps a legal drama that generated international attention in part because Grossman is a prominent figure who co-founded the Grossman Burn Foudation with her husband, Dr. Peter Grossman.

The jury verdict was read in a tense, packed Van Nuys courtroom. The jury of nine men and three women found Grossman guilty of murder, gross vehicular manslaughter and hit and run. She faces up to 34 years in prison at sentencing.

VAN NUYS, CA-APRIL 25, 2022: A sign shows an image of Mark Iskander, 11, left, and his brother Jacob Iskander, 8, outside of Van Nuys Courthouse were a preliminary hearing was held for Rebecca Grossman who is charged with murder and other counts stemming from a crash in Westlake Village, where Grossman's Mercedes struck the boys in a crosswalk and killed them.

Rebecca Grossman jury must decide level of malice, dueling claims, finger-pointing

Jurors were presented with two very different versions of the Hidden Hills woman and the Sept. 29, 2020, incident that ended the lives of Mark and Jacob Iskander, ages 11 and 8, respectively.

“This was not a tragic accident,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Jamie Castro said in Wednesday’s closing arguments. “This was murder.” But Grossman’s lead attorney, Tony Buzbee, launched into his closing statement with words he’d repeated throughout the six-week trial: “Where is Scott Erickson?” Prosecutors allege Grossman, 60, had had cocktails with Erickson, a former Dodgers pitcher, and then raced with him — he in his black Mercedes sport utility vehicle and she in her white Mercedes SUV — along Triunfo Canyon Road until they reached a crosswalk, where she fatally struck the Iskander brothers.

Grossman, Castro said, showed conscious disregard for human life and knew her speed could be dangerous on a suburban street with pedestrian traffic because she had been warned of the dangers by police in the past. Prosecutors also alleged that Grossman traveled a third of a mile after slamming into the children before safety features in her car automatically shut it down.

“She had a history of speeding. She’d texted about it,” Castro said. “She acted with disregard for human life.”

But Buzbee continued to point the finger at Erickson, who was the first to barrel through the crosswalk. Crash reconstruction experts for the defense testified that Erickson’s Mercedes hit the boys first, sending Mark over his vehicle and onto the hood of Grossman’s vehicle.

It was around 7 p.m. on Sept. 29, 2020, when Nancy Iskander and her three sons approached the crosswalk. Wearing inline skates, Iskander began to cross Triunfo Canyon Road at Saddle Mountain Drive. Her youngest son, Zachary, was next to her on his scooter; Mark, on a skateboard, and Jacob, also wearing inline skates, were also in the crosswalk. “The mother did everything right,” Castro said. “Rebecca Grossman did everything wrong.”

Iskander previously testified that she heard revving engines and looked up to see a black SUV speeding toward the intersection. She dived out of the way, pulling Zachary to safety. VAN NUYS, CA-APRIL 25, 2022: Nancy Iskander and her husband Karim leave Van Nuys Courthouse during a lunch break from a preliminary hearing for Rebecca Grossman who is charged with murder and other counts stemming from a crash in Westlake Village that left the Iskander's sons Mark Iskander, 11, and Jacob Iskander, 8, dead. Nancy Iskander took the witness stand and testified to the moment her sons were killed by Grossman's Mercedes as they were walking in the crosswalk on Triunfo Canyon Rd. In. Westlake. Village. Tearful mom describes horror as car sped through intersection, killing her 2 sons

But she testified that a white Mercedes SUV was following closely behind the black vehicle. When it went through the crosswalk, Iskander said, she heard an impact, and her two oldest boys were gone.

Jacob was found near the curb about 50 feet from the crosswalk. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead a few hours later. Mark’s body was found 254 feet away.

Grossman is accused of reaching 81 mph before lightly braking and hitting the brothers at 73 mph, based on the car’s data recorder and the distance Mark was found from the crosswalk. But Buzbee called in experts who testified that the data wasn’t reliable and that Grossman was traveling at 52 mph based on a video captured seconds after the collision.

Having a friend in a state correctional facility, regardless of her money, it will be rough on her.

I'm assuming the guilty verdict will be followed by a civil suit filed by the parents? I hope they get everything. It will never bring their sons back but still.....

r112, have been thinking the same. She was on record for being pulled over for speeding no less than FOUR times over the years prior to this incident. What reckless arrogance and entitlement. The husband testified that he's never seen her speeding. What a lie.

They should have admitted guilt and settled but instead drew this ugly process out for years. Insult to injury.

I wonder how much time she would have gotten if she pleaded to lesser charges (if the DA presented the option). Probably much less. If it was her choice to go to trial vs pleading down, what a major miscalculation.

She's getting on in years. Do women's prisons separate older detainees from younger, more violent ones?

To R114, I hope not, I'm rooting for swift& senseless violence against the multi-millionaire Grossman bitch.

It couldn't happen to a better person.

I have a problem with senseless violence, r115. Truly.

This is America, that is your right to believe what you want!!

R118. Thank you for posting. I read the whole article and I still hope she rots in prison. I seriously doubt she will avoid being locked up for a very long time.

15 years to life.

Another feel good story. I love feel good stories.