The History:
On September 29, 2020, in Westlake Village, a horrible and deadly accident happened. Its seriousness demanded a full and uncompromising investigation by police. Mark Iskander, 11, and Jacob Iskander, 8, were killed while crossing the street at night. They were not quietly walking shoulder-to-shoulder with their parents. They were on a skateboard and rollerblades, moving across a dark roadway under difficult conditions that mattered then and matter even more now.
Rebecca Grossman, who, with her husband Peter Grossman, MD, was every bit of a wealthy philanthropist. She was administering the Grossman Burn Center, which has famously helped countless people suffering ghastly injuries return to normal lives.
Rebecca Grossman had consumed alcohol, but she was not charged or convicted as a DUI driver. The prosecution’s speed theory rested heavily on reconstruction opinions and guesswork. Those are not fingerprints. They are educated conclusions built from assumptions, measurements, and “expert” interpretation.
Rebecca Grossman, was convicted by a jury of double Second degree murder and has been sitting in prison ever since.
The Narrative Changed!
Now the civil trial has blown open the prosecution’s narrative. Evidence and testimony, including Scott Erickson’s own admissions, have revealed that he testified that he drinks absolutely every day and had a previous DUI conviction. The word alcoholic was avoided, but it now seems obvious.
Erickson had two similar Mercedes SUVs, used one set of license plates on both vehicles, and allegedly presented a vehicle for law enforcement inspection that was not the vehicle he was driving that night. Grossman’s daughter, Alexis, was threatened by Erickson when she caught him hiding in the bushes from the police. That is not a clerical mistake. That is all real evidence with teeth.
Because the wrong Erickson vehicle was examined by police, that was evidence tampering and obstruction of justice. That changes the case. It raises questions about vehicle contact, timing, sequencing, speed, visibility, and whether Grossman was treated as the only meaningful target while Erickson accordingly escaped all charges.
The defense version is very simple: Erickson, who was driving ahead of Grossman’s SUV, actually struck the boys, who one or both then flew over the top of his vehicle, landing on Grossman’s SUV. Grossman could not see the boys because her view was blocked by Erickson’s SUV.
There was the issue of Grossman, allegedly fleeing the scene. That allegation was beyond bogus. First of all the airbag went off in her face and you can only imagine the shock and awe that created. She paid for the On Star vehicle service that properly notified police, fire and guided her car to a safe place to stop. She did not run and hide from police.
The case took on a life of its own with the help of true crime trolls that took to the Internet, spreading every possible manner of exaggeration and outright lies. Some of the motivation was antisemitic. There certainly was a lot of jealousy because of the Grossmans’ wealth.
I cannot understate the failure of the trial lawyers and their investigators here. I don’t give a shit how much money you have, there is no such thing as a perfect lawyer. They all make mistakes, and so do their investigators. My 50+ years inside the criminal justice system, most of which has been doing criminal defense work, taught me that.
What I believe should’ve been a vehicular manslaughter case at best resulted in a double murder prosecution and conviction with a 15-years-to-life prison term.
The Internet true crime trolls, with their twisted version of “facts,” obviously tainted the jury. I have also learned over the years that nearly every member of high-profile juries violates court rules by getting their “evidence” today from the Internet. Just one member of the jury caught doing that would absolutely be responsible for a mistrial and a new day in court for Rebecca Grossman.
This case must return to court with lesser charges of vehicular manslaughter if there’s going to be any attempt at justice whatsoever.
The short version is brutal: two children died, Grossman was convicted, but the civil trial has produced evidence that seriously undermined the original theory of how it happened and who was fully accountable.
Comments