Rebecca Grossman and ex-Dodger should pay nearly $200 million in boys' deaths, jury finds
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Rebecca Grossman should pay $21 million and her former lover Scott Erickson $1.17 million in punitive damages to the family of two young brothers who were killed by Grossman when she and the former Dodgers pitcher raced their SUVs through a Westlake Village crosswalk, a jury decided Wednesday.The decision ends a nine-week trial in which a jury decided the family of Mark and Jacob Iskander are owed nearly $200 million overall for the tragic September 2020 crash.The boys, 11 and 8, were with their mother and younger brother when witnesses say vehicles driven by Grossman and Erickson came speeding toward the crosswalk.The couple had been drinking at a Westlake Village cantina and were heading to Grossman’s home to watch a presidential debate.
Erickson testified that he avoided hitting the two boys with his Mercedes-AMG.But Grossman struck the two boys at 73 mph, according to expert witnesses.
Grossman was convicted in 2024 on charges including second-degree murder and is serving 15 years to life in prison.Shortly before the civil verdict, the California Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a petition by Grossman to review her conviction for double second-degree murder of the brothers.The Iskanders sued Grossman and Erickson, and last week a jury found the pair liable in the boys’ deaths, awarding $176 million in damages to parents Nancy and Karim Iskander and younger son Zachary for wrongful death and emotional distress.
This week, Brian Panish, the Iskanders’ attorney, told jurors in the Van Nuys courtroom that they needed to award punitive damages for the couple’s “reprehensible” conduct the day of the crash.“Just two words that you need to know: Punish and deter,” he said.“To kill people, to drive whatever the speeds were — some 80 miles an hour — with alcohol and drugs in a residential area at 7 o’clock during COVID, it doesn’t get more toxic than that...