A jury on Friday discovered Rebecca Grossman responsible within the killing of two younger brothers who have been crossing a avenue in Westlake Village when her dashing Mercedes hit them.
The decision caps a authorized drama that generated worldwide consideration partly as a result of Grossman is a outstanding determine who co-founded the Grossman Burn Basis together with her husband, Dr. Peter Grossman.
For the file:
6:04 p.m. Feb. 23, 2024An earlier model of this story incorrectly said Grossman’s doable sentence. She faces 34 years to life in jail.
The jury verdict was learn in a tense, packed Van Nuys courtroom. The jury of 9 males and three girls discovered Grossman responsible of homicide, gross vehicular manslaughter and hit and run within the deaths of Mark and Jacob Iskander, ages 11 and eight. She faces 34 years to life in jail and is scheduled to return to court docket April 10.
“We now have a justice system that we will belief, thank God,” mentioned Nancy Iskander, the boys’ mom, after the determination was introduced. “I give glory to God.”
Grossman’s lead lawyer, Tony Buzbee, known as the decision surprising and vowed to attraction.
As the decision was learn aloud in court docket, Alexis Grossman, Rebecca’s daughter, mentioned “Oh my God, Oh my God,” as tears ran down her cheeks.
Los Angeles County Superior Courtroom Decide Joseph Brandolino mentioned justice might now not be delayed, after which a deputy handcuffed Grossman.
Alexis Grossman screamed as her mom was taken into custody. Her mom begged her to cease earlier than being escorted from the courtroom.
All through the the six-week trial, jurors have been offered with two very completely different variations of Grossman and the 2020 collision that ended the lives of the 2 younger brothers.
“This was not a tragic accident,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Jamie Castro mentioned in Wednesday’s closing arguments. “This was homicide.”
However Buzbee launched into his closing assertion with phrases he’d repeated all through the six-week trial: “The place is Scott Erickson?”
Prosecutors alleged Grossman, 60, had cocktails with Erickson, a former Dodgers pitcher, after which raced with him — he in his black Mercedes sport utility automobile and he or she in her white Mercedes SUV — alongside Triunfo Canyon Street till they reached a crosswalk, the place she fatally struck the Iskander brothers.
Grossman, Castro mentioned, confirmed aware disregard for human life and knew her velocity may very well be harmful on a suburban avenue with pedestrian site visitors as a result of she had been warned of the hazards by police prior to now. Prosecutors additionally alleged that Grossman traveled a 3rd of a mile after slamming into the kids earlier than security options in her automotive routinely shut it down.
“She had a historical past of dashing. She’d texted about it,” Castro mentioned. “She acted with disregard for human life.”
However all through the trial, Buzbee continued to level the finger at Erickson, who was the primary to barrel by the crosswalk. Crash reconstruction consultants for the protection testified that Erickson’s Mercedes hit the boys first, sending Mark over his automobile and onto the hood of Grossman’s automobile.
It was round 7 p.m. on Sept. 29, 2020, when Nancy Iskander and her three sons approached the crosswalk. Carrying inline skates, Iskander started to cross Triunfo Canyon Street at Saddle Mountain Drive. Her youngest son, Zachary, was subsequent to her on his scooter. Mark, on a skateboard, and Jacob, additionally sporting inline skates, have been additionally within the crosswalk.
“The mom did the whole lot proper,” Castro mentioned. “Rebecca Grossman did the whole lot fallacious.”
Iskander beforehand testified that she heard revving engines and regarded as much as see a black SUV dashing towards the intersection. She dived out of the way in which, pulling Zachary to security.
However she testified {that a} white Mercedes SUV was following carefully behind the black automobile. When it went by the crosswalk, Iskander mentioned, she heard an affect, and her two oldest boys have been gone.
Jacob was discovered close to the curb about 50 ft from the crosswalk. He was taken to a hospital, the place he was pronounced lifeless a couple of hours later. Mark’s physique was discovered 254 ft away.
Prosecutors accused Grossman of reaching 81 mph earlier than flippantly braking and hitting the brothers at 73 mph, based mostly on the automotive’s knowledge recorder and the gap Mark was discovered from the crosswalk. However Buzbee known as in consultants who testified that the information weren’t dependable and that Grossman was touring at 52 mph based mostly on a video captured seconds after the collision.
After the verdict was learn late Friday afternoon, Kareem Iskander, the boys’ father, thanked the jury.
“Thanks for not falling into the imaginary conspiracy theories and methods,” he mentioned. It took “lots of endurance, so I actually recognize you getting closure.”
Nancy Iskander thanked the prosecutors for his or her arduous work on the case.
“They’ve achieved their job and and we are actually prepared to start out our therapeutic course of,” she mentioned. “We have been trusting the justice system.”
She declined to touch upon the upcoming sentencing, saying she would “go away that as much as the choose.”
Although the boys’ mother and father felt justice was served within the case, Nancy Iskander mentioned it didn’t deliver her pleasure to see Grossman in handcuffs.
“Nobody needs that on anybody,” she mentioned. “I promise I should not have any hate for her. My coronary heart broke for her youngsters. … It wasn’t simple, however it can deliver me closure.”
