After hearing several weeks of testimony, jurors began deliberations Thursday in the trial of Rebecca Grossman, who is charged with murder and other counts stemming from a hit-and-run crash that killed two young brothers in Westlake Village in 2020.
In the prosecution’s rebuttal, Deputy District Attorney Ryan Gould told the jury to “hold the defendant responsible” for the deaths of 11-year-old Mark Iskander and his eight-year-old brother, Jacob, urging them not to let Grossman’s defense confuse them.
"The defense tried to make this the Scott Erickson trial," the prosecutor said.
Grossman’s attorney has asserted that Erickson, the former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher whom she was dating at the time, hit the two boys first with his own vehicle. But the prosecutor said there was “not a shred of evidence” to back up this theory.
He noted that markings on Mark’s body lined up with Grossman’s SUV, and pointed to expert testimony that it would be physically impossible for Erickson’s SUV to vault a person into the air as the defense claims.
Grossman’s lead attorney has also contended that she was driving 54 mph “at best,” but black box data from her SUV showed she was driving 73 mph in a 45 mph zone at the time of the impact. Given that Grossman was warned about the dangers of speeding when she got a ticket years earlier, the prosecutor said she knew what she was doing and she did it anyway.
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If convicted as charged, Grossman could face up to 34 years to life in state prison.
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