Items of particles from the scene the place two boys have been fatally struck in a Westlake crosswalk have been from a white Mercedes, the identical kind of auto Rebecca Grossman was driving the night time of the crash, a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy testified through the L.A. socialite’s trial Wednesday.
Grossman faces homicide costs within the deaths of brothers Mark and Jacob Iskander, 11 and eight, who have been run down whereas crossing Triunfo Canyon Highway at Saddle Mountain Drive with their mom on Sept. 29, 2020.
Grossman and her then-boyfriend, Scott Erickson, a former pitcher for the Dodgers, raced via the intersection that night after having drinks at a close-by restaurant, prosecutors say.
Grossman’s protection crew says Erickson’s car — a black Mercedes SUV — struck the youngsters first, flipping one of many boys into the air earlier than he bounced off Grossman’s hood.
However Deputy Rafael Mejia advised jurors that investigators “discovered particles from a white Mercedes” on the scene, including, “We didn’t discover particles from one other car.”
Prosecutors confirmed the courtroom a picture of a Mercedes emblem mendacity on the blacktop, and Mejia later testified there have been two emblems from the posh automotive line discovered on the scene.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Division investigated a crash scene in Westlake Village in September 2020 involving a white Mercedes.
(Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Division)
Grossman’s SUV stopped three-tenths of a mile from the marked crosswalk. The car was powered down by its security system as a result of its airbags deployed, courtroom information present.
Mejia testified that he discovered Grossman standing in entrance of her Mercedes, a brief distance from the crash website. The SUV had seen front-end harm, together with a buckled fender on the passenger facet, which sheriff’s officers photographed.
“She advised me her car was disabled by Mercedes-Benz and her airbags went off, and he or she didn’t know what was occurring,” Mejia mentioned. “She mentioned she hit one thing, however she didn’t know what she hit.”
When a Mercedes operator referred to as the car after it was disabled, they looped in a 911 dispatcher, who requested whether or not the affect that deployed the airbags was related to a close-by crash wherein two kids had been struck.
Mejia mentioned he observed what seemed to be blood spatter on Grossman’s car, however acknowledged that he didn’t have the fabric analyzed.
He advised jurors that after his preliminary contact with Grossman, she begged him to permit her to name her husband, Dr. Peter Grossman, who’s head of the Grossman Burn Middle.
“Her husband might assist the children,” Mejia mentioned.
The deputy additionally mentioned Grossman “had the scent of alcohol coming from her individual.”
In line with courtroom information, Grossman, 60, and Erickson, 55, had been ingesting cocktails at a restaurant earlier than the crash. They have been with retired baseball participant Royce Clayton, who testified Monday that Erickson drank two margaritas and Grossman one. He mentioned Grossman didn’t appear to be impaired when she left the eatery.
Although she just isn’t charged with driving beneath the affect, prosecutors say Grossman was impaired. An on-site breathalyzer take a look at confirmed a blood-alcohol content material of 0.076%, barely beneath California’s authorized restrict of 0.08%. A blood pattern taken three hours after the crash registered on the 0.08% mark. As well as, Valium was present in her blood.
Grossman’s authorized crew has sought to undermine Mejia’s credibility, noting that the legislation enforcement officer is accused of inappropriately distributing pictures from Kobe Bryant’s deadly helicopter crash and gave inconsistent testimony in civil litigation by the star’s widow, Vanessa Bryant.
However jurors on Wednesday heard nothing of Mejia’s questionable conduct after Superior Courtroom Decide Joseph Brandolino dominated it was not related to this trial.
Tony Buzbee, Grossman’s lead lawyer, requested Mejia throughout cross-examination whether or not he was conscious {that a} black Mercedes had additionally been concerned within the lethal incident. Within the speedy aftermath of the crash, Mejia mentioned, he was not.
However Mejia mentioned he didn’t consider one other Mercedes struck the boys as a result of such an affect would have disabled the car the identical manner Grossman’s SUV was internally shut down. He additionally mentioned Grossman by no means talked about one other automotive throughout his preliminary investigation that night time.
The deputy testified that Grossman’s daughter, Alexis Grossman, got here to the positioning the place her mom’s car was stopped, which was close to their lakeside residence, and requested to take her residence. He advised her she couldn’t discuss to her mom at that time. He additionally acknowledged that she knowledgeable him that Erickson had been touring together with her mom that night however in a separate car.
Buzbee has argued that Erickson “stopped down the street and hid within the bushes and watched.”
The lawyer additionally repeatedly tried to solid doubt on the place prosecutors say the boys have been struck, saying the primary particles reportedly discovered by Mejia was 50 toes from the crosswalk.
On Monday, the youngsters’s mom, Nancy Iskander, testified that she discovered Jacob close to the curb after seeing a white Mercedes pace via the intersection and listening to a loud crash. Authorities say he was thrown about 50 toes. She mentioned that it seemed as if he was sleeping, and that she put her ear to his chest and heard his coronary heart beating. He was taken to a hospital, the place he was pronounced lifeless a number of hours later, sheriff’s officers mentioned in a information launch.
Mark was 254 toes away — a distance a deputy who focuses on crash incidents beforehand testified was the farthest he has recognized a human to be tossed in a crash. His physique was crumpled, and blood was pouring out his nostril, his mom recounted. He was pronounced lifeless on the scene.
“Each bone in his physique was damaged,” she testified.
