By TERRI VERMEULEN KEITH
Jurors in the murder trial of Rebecca Grossman are expected to begin deliberations at the Van Nuys courthouse Thursday morning, one day after prosecution and defense attorneys gave closing arguments in the case against the co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation.
Deputy District Attorney Jamie Castro on Wednesday told the panel of nine men and three women that Grossman was speeding at 73 mph when she plowed into two young brothers in 2020 — while lead defense attorney Tony Buzbee countered that authorities failed to properly investigate the crash and determine who actually hit the boys.
Buzbee asked the panel why it didn’t hear during the trial from former Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson, whom the defense contends was behind the wheel of a black Mercedes-Benz that struck the two boys first.
Former major-league pitcher Scott Erickson was charged with reckless driving for his role in a crash in Westlake Village that killed two boys crossing a street on Sept. 29, 2020. Authorities say Erickson was racing Rebecca Grossman, who police say struck the boys. Erickson pitched for the Dodgers in 2005. (Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Meanwhile, Castro told jurors that the man described by the prosecution as Grossman’s boyfriend at the time was “absolutely reckless,” but that “there is not a shred of evidence that he hit them, not a shred.
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Jurors are expected to get the case Thursday after hearing the prosecution’s rebuttal argument.
Grossman, 60, is charged with two counts each of murder and vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one felony count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death in the Sept. 29, 2020, crash in Westlake Village that left 11-year-old Mark Iskander and his 8-year-old brother Jacob dead.
“This was not a tragic accident. This was murder,” the prosecutor said Wednesday.
Starting her presentation with photos of the two boys smiling, Castro said Grossman hit and killed “these two precious children” as they walked in a marked crosswalk. The prosecutor said the defendant “made the decision to drink” and “decided to drive at an excessively high rate of speed through her own neighborhood,” saying that an analysis of data from Grossman’s white SUV showed she had been speeding at 81 mph just seconds before impact.
Mark and Jacob Iskander, 11 and 8, were with their family Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020, when they were struck and killed in Westlake Village by a Mercedes driven by Rebecca Grossman, the chairwoman of the Grossman Burn Foundation. (Photo courtesy of Archangel Michael Coptic Orthodox Church)
The prosecutor said the evidence, including statements from eyewitnesses, is not consistent with the defense’s claim that Grossman was driving 52 mph in the 45 mph zone. Grossman didn’t stop or call 911 after the crash, Castro said.
“She continued driving as far as her car would let her,” the deputy district attorney said of Grossman’s actions after the crash.
Castro told jurors that Grossman had “knowledge that speed can kill,” noting that she had been stopped by the California Highway Patrol several years earlier for speeding at 93 mph on the 101 Freeway and had been warned that speeding is dangerous.
“Did she take this warning to heart? No. She threatened him,” the prosecutor said — reminding the panel of the CHP officer’s testimony that Grossman told him she hoped he didn’t need the services of the Grossman Burn Center.
In addition, the deputy district attorney told the jury that Grossman was “name-dropping her husband” — Dr. Peter Grossman, director of the Grossman Burn Centers — after the collision. Castro also said that an EMT at the hospital where Rebecca Grossman was taken for a blood test testified she heard Grossman say she would have been in her garage if Mercedes-Benz had not turned off her vehicle.
Cars pass by the crosswalk at the intersection of Triunfo Canyon Road and Saddle Mountain Drive where Mark and Jacob Iskander were struck and killed by a vehicle in Westlake Village on Sept. 29, 2020. (Photo by Andy Holzman)
The younger boy, Jacob, was being treated at the same hospital and was “dying,” and “this is how she is behaving,” Castro said.
The prosecutor acknowledged that there wasn’t a perfect investigation into the crash, but said that in the end “they got it right.”
“Rebecca Grossman killed these two children — and she committed murder,” the prosecutor told jurors, urging them to hold her accountable.
During the afternoon session, Buzbee kicked off his closing argument by asking, “Where is Scott Erickson? Where is the guy?”
He told jurors that “Erickson hit the kids first,” and questioned why the prosecution hadn’t called the ex-baseball player during the case.
The defense attorney — who showed jurors a photo of Erickson during his closing argument and repeatedly referred to him — noted that “you couldn’t keep me away from this courthouse” to clear his own name if someone were accusing him.
He urged jurors to acquit Grossman of all of the charges, saying that the prosecution had brought a murder case but had not been able to prove what happened the night of the crash.
“I think we now have seen she ain’t guilty of anything,” Buzbee told the panel.
The defense attorney said the murder charge was “off the table,” saying that the prosecution had to pay for the “lack of evidence” in a case that he said could “only be described as weak at best.”
“We shouldn’t even be here, really shouldn’t,” Grossman’s lawyer said. “This is an accident. This is not a crime.”
He accused law enforcement of conducting a “terrible investigation.” He called the case a “rush to judgment,” saying they “put their blinders on” and didn’t consider that anyone else might be responsible for the crash.
The defense attorney also disputed how fast Grossman was driving, saying that she was driving 54 mph “at best” and didn’t know why her vehicle’s airbags deployed.
He accused the prosecution of trying to “impugn” his client’s character and to make her “look bad,” contending that the CHP officer’s recollection of Grossman’s statement during the 2013 traffic stop was “complete baloney” and that the quote attributed to his client at the hospital was also “total baloney.”
Grossman is free on $2 million bond. She could face up to 34 years to life in state prison if convicted as charged.