Rebecca Grossman murdered two young brothers when she sped through a Westlake Village crosswalk, a jury found two years ago. Now, a state appeals court has upheld that verdict.
Grossman, the head of the Grossman Burn Foundation, is serving 15 years to life in state prison for the second-degree murders of 11-year-old Mark Iskander and 8-year-old Jacob Iskander.
On Tuesday, the California 2nd District Court of Appeal upheld the Feb. 23, 2024, conviction of the wife of renowned surgeon Peter Grossman.
Rebecca Grossman’s six-week trial was filled with dramatic testimony and evidence that she struck the boys while driving over 70 mph on a suburban street. Grossman was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter, and one count of hit and run with fatality in the September 2020 killings of the two children.
During a recent appeals argument, Grossman’s attorney, Lara Gressley, told the panel that the law allowed for a conviction for manslaughter, not second-degree murder, which requires the defendant to have acted with “implied malice.” She argued that prosecutors failed to prove such malice and that the judge never clearly defined that term.
Nancy Iskander, the boys’ mother, testified during the trial that her older children had been walking ahead of her and her youngest son in the marked crosswalk on Triunfo Canyon Road when she heard engines roaring. Two sport utility vehicles were barreling toward them.
Iskander dived for safety, grabbing her 5-year-old son. Her next memory, she said, is of Jacob and Mark crumpled on the roadway.
Grossman was driving behind Scott Erickson, a former Dodgers player, who earlier in the day had been drinking cocktails with her at a nearby restaurant. She was driving as fast as 81 mph and traveled another half a mile after slamming into the children; her SUV’s airbag went off and the vehicle stopped when her power was cut off, according to evidence presented at trial.
During the trial, to prove implied malice, prosecutors presented evidence of Grossman’s history of speeding. They said a California Highway Patrol officer had warned Grossman of its deadly consequences in 2013 after she was ticketed going 93 mph on the 101 Freeway.
Grossman’s lead trial attorney, Tony Buzbee, blamed Erickson for the 2020 accident in Westlake Village, presenting evidence he said showed the retired pitcher’s SUV first struck both of the boys and tossed them into Rebecca Grossman’s path.
At sentencing, prosecutors argued that Grossman should receive the maximum sentence of two 15-year-to-life terms and four additional years. They said she slammed into the Iskander brothers with a force equivalent to her Mercedes SUV being dropped from a 12-story building.
The Iskanders’ civil trial starts next month against Grossman and Erickson for wrongful death.
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