Prosecutors asked the judge Friday to order Rebecca Grossman into custody, claiming the socialite leaked videos that weren’t allowed to be used in her murder trial to a reporter.
Jury deliberations began Thursday in the case against Grossman, who is facing two counts of murder and other charges stemming from a hit-and-run crash that killed two young brothers in Westlake Village in 2020.
At a hearing outside the jury’s presence, Deputy District Attorney Ryan Gould told the judge that videos that weren’t allowed in the trial were sent Thursday to a reporter after Grossman had asked them for a business card. Gould said it was a direct violation of the court’s protective order and an “attempt to influence the jury.”
A bodycam video that had been excluded from the trial also wound up on a Facebook page to which Grossman's daughter belongs, according to the prosecutor.
One of Grossman's attorneys told the judge that it was the first he had heard about the alleged leaks, and said that the email sent to the reporter didn’t necessarily come from Grossman.
The judge declined to immediately order Grossman into custody, saying he needed to review the matter further. But he warned the defendant that she can’t provide evidence to reporters or she may be remanded.
Grossman asked the judge if she could put something on the record, with her attorneys quickly trying to silence her. Her husband, Dr. Peter Grossman, medical director of the Grossman Burn Centers, called out, "Rebecca!"
The jury spent just under an hour Friday listening to a readback of testimony from four witnesses, including the victims’ mother and two eyewitnesses to the crash. They also asked to re-hear testimony from MLB player Royce Clayton, a former friend of ex-Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson, whom the defense contends was actually responsible for the fatal crash.
City News Service contributed to this report.
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