$176M verdict: Jury finds Rebecca Grossman, Scott Erickson negligent in boys' deaths
Rebecca Grossman found liable in $176M verdict
A jury found socialite Rebecca Grossman and former Dodger Scott Erickson negligent on Wednesday in the 2020 deaths of Mark and Jacob Iskander, awarding their family $176 million in damages.
LOS ANGELES - On Wednesday, a jury reached a verdict in the civil trial filed against socialist Rebecca Grossman and former Los Angeles Dodger Scott Erikcson.
What we know:
The two were found negligent in the deaths of two boys who were fatally struck by Grossman's car on a Westlake Village street, allegedly while the couple were racing. A Los Angeles jury awarded the victims' family $176 million in damages.
The jury also found that Grossman and Erickson acted with malice, potentially leading to a punitive damages phase of trial that could lead to further penalties.
The backstory:
The civil lawsuit, originally filed in January 2021 by parents Nancy and Karim Iskander along with their surviving son Zachary, stems from a fatal incident on September 29, 2020.
The plaintiffs argue that Grossman and her then-boyfriend, former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson, consumed cocktails before engaging in an impromptu street race along Triunfo Canyon Road in Westlake Village.
According to the family's legal team, Grossman’s vehicle struck the boys in a pedestrian crosswalk at approximately 80 mph in a 45 mph zone.
Grossman's husband, Dr. Peter Grossman—a renowned plastic surgeon—is also named as a defendant because he owned the vehicle she was driving.
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Grossman is currently serving a sentence of 15 years to life in prison. Her criminal conviction for two counts each of second-degree murder and vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, alongside one count of hit-and-run driving, was upheld by the Second District Court of Appeal in March.
During the civil trial, the defense teams pushed back heavily against the narrative of a street race. Grossman’s attorney, Esther Holm, maintained that her client was driving around 52 mph, was not racing, and was distracted right before the impact when she saw the boys' mother diving out of the way of Erickson's leading vehicle.
The Source: City News Service contributed to this report.