![\"Rebecca](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780542791_482_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nRebecca Grossman and former major leaguer Scott Erickson are to blame for the deaths of two young brothers who were struck by Grossman\u2019s SUV in a Westlake Village crosswalk, a jury has decided.<\/p>\n
Grossman, 62, is already serving 15 years to life in prison after being convicted of second-degree murder for fatally striking Mark and Jacob Iskander, 11 and 8, with her vehicle on Sept. 29, 2020. <\/p>\n
After an eight-week trial, a jury on Wednesday awarded the boys\u2019 parents, Nancy and Karim Iskander, and their younger brother, Zachary, $176 million in wrongful death and emotional distress damages. <\/p>\n
Erickson, 58, was in a separate SUV ahead of Grossman\u2019s vehicle and also was negligent in the deadly crash, the jury found. Although it was Grossman\u2019s Mercedes that struck the boys, jurors found that the pair \u201cacted in concert with each other in the course of their activities leading to the fatal collision.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jurors decided that Grossman also acted with malice and oppression and Erickson acted with malice, oppression, or fraud. That decision means the jury can also issue punitive damages, which could result in millions more being awarded. A second phase of the trial to deal with those damages is set to begin Thursday. <\/p>\n
Los Angeles civil litigator Neama Rahmani told The Times that the case \u201chad everything you need for a nuclear verdict,\u201d including the tragic deaths of two young children, \u201ca parent and child who witnessed their deaths\u201d and allegations of driving under the influence and street racing. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis was a big win for the plaintiffs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
According to witness testimony at the criminal and civil trials, the pair had been drinking margaritas at a Westlake Village cantina before they decided to get behind the wheel in their separate SUVs and drive to Grossman\u2019s home to watch a presidential debate.<\/p>\n
Around the same time, Mark and Jacob Iskander, 11 and 8, were with their mother and younger sibling approaching a crosswalk at Triunfo Canyon Road. Experts testified that Erickson and Grossman were speeding along the road. As the family entered the intersection, Erickson drove by them and avoided a collision. But Grossman did not and struck the two boys at 73 mph, according to expert witnesses.<\/p>\n
The Iskander family sued Grossman and Erickson as part of a wrongful death lawsuit, claiming the pair were negligent in the September 2020 crash. Their attorney, Brian Panish, asked the jurors to award more than $430 million to his clients, arguing the evidence showed that Grossman and Erickson were street racing and the verdict would be a \u201cday of reckoning\u201d for the pair.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not an accident when you speed, and you drink, and you drive impaired,\u201d said Panish, on behalf of Nancy and Karim Iskander, and their surviving son, Zachary. \u201cWho would act like that except someone who thinks they can do whatever they want and there\u2019s no consequences?\u201d <\/p>\n
Jurors in Van Nuys began deliberating Tuesday morning after closing arguments, where attorneys for Grossman and Erickson argued that, although the incident was tragic, there was no evidence they were racing or impaired that would justify an award of hundreds of millions of dollars.<\/p>\n
Grossman is the co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation and is the the wife of prominent plastic surgeon Dr. Peter Grossman. They were separated at the time of the crash. Erickson is a former pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers.<\/p>\n
During the trial, Nancy Iskander testified that she began to cross Triunfo Canyon Road at Saddle Mountain Drive on inline skates with her youngest son, Zachary, next to her on his scooter. Mark, on a skateboard, and Jacob, also wearing inline skates, followed a little more than an arm\u2019s length behind. She said Erickson\u2019s black Mercedes narrowly missed her and her boys. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Rebecca Grossman, left, at the Van Nuys Courthouse during her criminal trial in February 2024. <\/p>\n
(Irfan Khan \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
Grossman\u2019s vehicle hit the boys while going 73 mph, Panish told the jury. Mark\u2019s body was found more than 250 feet away with the vehicle\u2019s grille marks on his body. Jacob was found on the other side of the road, experts testified.<\/p>\n
Through Grossman\u2019s criminal trial as well as the civil case in Van Nuys, Erickson\u2019s attorneys sought to separate his client\u2019s behavior from that of his ex-lover, Grossman, saying they were not racing after leaving the restaurant. During closing arguments before the jury Tuesday, Grossman\u2019s attorney, Esther Holm, echoed that claim.<\/p>\n
She told jurors that her client was not impaired by alcohol or valium during the crash and was traveling at about 52 mph, around 7 mph over the speed limit, nor was she racing. Grossman did not try to leave the scene after the crash, Holm said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wasn\u2019t racing; that\u2019s all speculation,\u2019\u2019 Holm said, maintaining that Grossman never saw the children before her car struck them because she was distracted by the boys\u2019 mother \u201cdiving out of the way\u201d of Erickson\u2019s vehicle.<\/p>\n
![\"Karim](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780542792_566_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Karim Iskander, right, and wife Nancy, center, outside the Van Nuys courthouse in June 2024. <\/p>\n
(Brian van der Brug \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
Beyond that, Holm told jurors, trees and cars limited the motorists\u2019 ability to see the pedestrian crossing sign that warns of the crosswalk ahead, and she said data from Grossman\u2019s Mercedes had anomalies that mean they should disregard it.<\/p>\n
She also reminded the jury that the city had received a complaint about that intersection before, saying, \u201cThe city\u2019s role is significant as much as Ms. Grossman\u2019s and Mr. Erickson\u2019s. The city was on notice of the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeff Braun, Erickson\u2019s lawyer, emphasized to the jury that his client never hit either boy, and that the evidence showed the retired pitcher was not at fault or negligent in the deaths. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy client made some stupid, stupid decisions related to this case,\u201d he said. \u201cMy client lied to the police. He lied to his lawyers in this case. And that\u2019s a hard, hard hole to dig out of.\u201d <\/p>\n
He argued to jurors Monday that a \u201creasonable sum for this loss is $10 million.\u201d<\/p>\n
Panish said Braun\u2019s math would amount to $340 a day in terms of the boys\u2019 lives, and he was seeking about $430 million. <\/p>\n
\u201cShe speeds and kills them; he\u2019s racing her,\u201d Panish said. \u201cWhy are we here? Because they don\u2019t get it. They don\u2019t admit a single bit of responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following Wednesday\u2019s verdict, Rahmani, the civil litigator, said that \u201ceven though Panish didn\u2019t get the more than $400 million he asked for,\u201d it was a clear win for the plaintiffs. \u201cThe only question is, how much will they collect from the Grossmans and Erickson?\u201d<\/p>\n
Wednesday\u2019s verdict was reached after two days of deliberations. In an eight-page verdict form, members of the jury broke down their decision. Nancy and Karim Iskander, they found, should receive a combined $59 million for past and future wrongful death damages for the loss of Mark. In Jacob\u2019s death, they assigned another $48 million in past and future damages for the loss of love, companionship, comfort and care, assistance and affection. Jurors awarded Nancy Iskander another $35 million for serious emotional distress and $34 million to Zachary, the youngest brother, for emotional suffering.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rebecca Grossman and former major leaguer Scott Erickson are to blame for the deaths of two young brothers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":683075,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,12659,39540,297202,32052,15441,174049,297204,297201,297203,82241,74793,14477,34324,3,16554,21,19,22,20,25,24,10129],"class_list":["post-683074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-attorney","tag-boy","tag-brian-panish","tag-client","tag-crash","tag-erickson","tag-esther-holm","tag-grossman","tag-jacob-iskander","tag-juror","tag-jury","tag-mark","tag-mph","tag-news","tag-trial","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-vehicle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=683074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/683075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=683074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=683074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=683074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}