Rebecca Grossman, ex-boyfriend were racing when 2 boys were killed in crosswalk, lawyer alleges - BERITAJA

Rebecca Grossman and her ex-boyfriend were racing their cars while intoxicated erstwhile she struck and killed 2 young brothers successful 2020, an lawyer for the boys’ parents told a assemblage Friday during opening statements of a civilian wrongful decease trial.

Grossman, 62, is already serving a condemnation of 15 years to life successful situation aft being convicted of second-degree execution successful the deaths of Mark and Jacob Iskander, ages 11 and 8. During her high-profile 2024 criminal trial, Grossman’s lawyers sought to represent her then-boyfriend, erstwhile Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson, arsenic the personification responsible, and claimed it was his SUV, not hers, that first struck the boys.

But connected Friday, Brian Panish, an lawyer for Nancy and Karim Iskander, put the blasted connected some Erickson and Grossman, the co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation.

“They were racing, you are going to hear,” Panish told jurors, showing snippets of video depositions from galore group who witnessed the deadly clang connected Sept. 29, 2020. “At slightest six group saw it.”

Panish said Grossman was intoxicated by a operation of benzodiazepines and alcohol, and that Erickson was besides inebriated arsenic they drove to her rental location from a edifice wherever they had been drinking.

The 2 were driving down Triunfo Canyon Road successful Westlake Village erstwhile Mark and Jacob crossed the thoroughfare pinch their mother and younger relative astatine Saddle Mountain Drive. Nancy Iskander astatine the criminal proceedings testified she began to transverse connected inline skates pinch her youngest son, Zachary, adjacent to her connected his scooter. Mark, connected a skateboard, and Jacob, besides wearing inline skates, followed a small complete an arm’s magnitude behind.

“Because Mr. Erickson is racing, and he’s successful the first lane, he blocks disconnected the boys expertise to escape,” Panish said. “And they are some deed astatine 73 mph by Ms. Grossman — 73 mph, which is the balanced of taking a 4,800-pound car and dropping it from a 12-story building.”

After the collision, the information strategy connected Grossman’s Mercedes SUV abnormal the vehicle, which came to a extremity one-third of a mile down the road. Testing showed her blood-alcohol contented was 0.08% 3 hours aft the crash, Panish said.

“We don’t cognize what Mr. Erickson’s blood-alcohol level was, arsenic he fled the scene,” he added.

During her criminal trial, Grossman and her ineligible squad insisted that the grounds showed Erickson had deed the boys first. Esther Holm, her attorney, told jurors Friday that the grounds will show her customer “never saw the children successful the crosswalk.”

A authorities appeals tribunal denied Grossman’s entreaty successful her criminal lawsuit past month, but her lawyer says she will now activity reappraisal by the California Supreme Court.

Holm said “that respective cars were involved” and that investigators zeroed successful connected Grossman without checking retired immoderate different vehicles. Holm told jurors she will coming grounds that location was “a unreserved to judgement to find that the full mishap was the responsibility of Rebecca Grossman” — ignoring Erickson.

She elaborate really the metropolis of Westlake Village had documented issues pinch the crosswalk wherever the clang occurred, and had rejected efforts by its nationalist information committee to instal lights location to alert drivers, and the curve of the roadworthy made the crossing difficult to see.

Holm said grounds will show Grossman was not intoxicated, not racing and did not “know what happened.”

“Her car stopped down the road. Her emergency strategy called 911 ... . Mr. Erickson near the segment of the accident,” she said, alleging that, “He saw the children.”

During the criminal trial, Grossman’s lawyers portrayed the absent Erickson arsenic the existent culprit — saying he fled and later threatened Grossman’s daughter, who testified that she saw him hiding successful the bushes adjacent the scene.

Panish adopted immoderate of that communicative Friday, including Erickson’s return to the scene.

“Erickson fled and escaped and she tried to escape,” he said.

Panish played a snippet of a video deposition of erstwhile master shot subordinate Royce Clayton, who said he drank margaritas pinch the brace astatine a adjacent cantina soon earlier the clang and said pinch Erickson afterward. Clayton said that Erickson told him he saw Grossman deed the boys successful his rearview mirror.

“He sees 2 children killed by his woman and leaves the scene,” Panish said.

Before the civilian proceedings began, Erickson, done his lawyers, sought to blasted Grossman for the full incident, insisting he was going conscionable complete the 45 mph velocity limit.

But Panish said information from Grossman’s Mercedes showed she drove 70 to 80 mph earlier the deadly collision, and said it was logical that Erickson was driving faster, arsenic his conveyance was up of hers.

Panish said he would coming grounds that Erickson had a brace of Mercedes SUVs and told Los Angeles County sheriff’s investigators that he was driving a regular exemplary during the incident, erstwhile he was really driving a much powerful AMG. During Grossman’s criminal trial, a territory attorney’s interrogator testified that Erickson “cold plated” by utilizing the aforesaid licence sheet for some vehicles.

Erickson’s lawyer connected Friday said clang technicians who examined some SUVs concluded “there was 1 impact, and it was pinch Ms. Grossman’s vehicle.”

“He wasn’t racing pinch Rebecca Grossman aliases anyone else,” said lawyer Deborah Tropp.

She said the erstwhile pitcher was going 50 to 55 mph erstwhile he spotted the Iskander family crossing the thoroughfare and that he will testify, dissimilar successful Grossman’s criminal trial.

“Mr. Erickson will show you that if he had slammed connected his brakes, he was concerned he would person deed the kids,” Tropp told jurors. “He made the determination to velocity up a spot much — he knew he could clear the intersection safely and not harm the children.”

The lawyer told jurors Erickson knew thing of the deadly incident until his then-girlfriend called him soon after. At the clip of the crash, Grossman was separated from her celebrated integrative surgeon husband, Dr. Peter Grossman.

Tropp said Rebecca Grossman told Erickson successful a telephone telephone that “something bad happened.”

“He replied, ‘Did you spot those kids? And past she replied, ‘What kids?’ and the statement went dead,” Tropp said.

She besides denied that Erickson hid successful the bushes, and said he ran backmost to the scene, came upon Grossman and her smashed Mercedes and was told to measurement backmost by a constabulary officer.