Witnesses were expected to take the stand Tuesday in the civil wrongful death lawsuit against Rebecca Grossman, co-founder of Southern California’s Grossman Burn Foundation, and former Dodger pitcher Scott Erickson.
After being found guilty of killing Mark and Jacob Iskander, ages 11 and 8, in a hit-and-run crash in Westlake Village in 2020, Grossman is currently serving 15 years to life in prison.
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The parents of the deceased brothers have also filed a civil wrongful death against Grossman and her former boyfriend and ex-MLB pitcher Scott Erickson, who player part of one season with the Dodgers. The Iskander family alleges that Erickson contributed to the boys’ deaths by racing Grossman and creating the deadly situation. Prosecutors had alleged that Rebecca Grossman was speeding on Triunfo Canyon Road after drinking, and that she and Scott Erickson, who were in a relationship at the time, were driving at high speeds together..
Witnesses’ testimony was set to take place after an expert in accident investigations and a detective with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department took the stand Monday.
It was not immediately clear which witnesses will testify for or against Grossman and Erickson. But some people who saw the crash had said two cars were traveling at a high speed in the area shortly before the crash.
One eyewitness, Jake Sands, testified during Grossman’s criminal trial that he believed the vehicles that passed his friend’s car were traveling at “about double the speed limit” of 45 mph.
Another witness, Susan Manners, also told the criminal trial jury that she saw the Iskander family waiting at the marked crosswalk, lining up “like little ducks in a row” and calling it a “sweet moment.”
Responding deputies previously said when they arrived at the crash site on Sep. 29, 2020, one of the Iskander boys was already dead while the other was critically injured. they also found a scooter, helmet and rollerblade in the roadway near the crash scene around the marked crosswalk.
Moments before the crash, six members of the Isksander family were crossing the three-way intersection, which does not have a stoplight . The older boy died at the scene, and his 8-year-old sibling died at a hospital.
The parents of Mark and Jacob Iskander, who were fatally hit by a car Rebecca Grossman drove, said they were surprised two prosecutors on the case were removed. The I-Team’s Eric Leonard reports.
“Because Mr. Erickson is racing, and he’s in the first lane, he blocks off the boys ability to escape,” Brian Panish said last week during his opening statement. “And they are both hit at 73 miles an hour by Ms. Grossman. 73 miles an hour, which is the equivalent of taking a 4,800 pound car and dropping it from a 12-story building.”
Grossman continued driving, eventually stopping about a quarter-mile away from the scene when her car engine stopped running, prosecutors said.
Ester Hold, Grossman’s attorney, said her client never tried to leave the crash site after driving into the boys.
“The evidence will show Ms. Grossman never saw the children in the crosswalk,” Hold said. “We think there are other factors involved, and there was a rush to judgement to immediately determine that the entire accident was caused by and the fault of Rebecca Grossman.”
During the criminal trial, Grossman’s attorneys argued during the trial that it was Erickson, not Grossman, who struck the boys first with his black SUV. Erickson was never called to testify in the case.
The civil trial is expected to last between six and eight weeks.