Clinging to her daughter for support, California socialite Rebecca Grossman comes to court to face charges of murdering another mother's children.
Grossman entered Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday with her husband, plastic surgeon Dr. Peter Grossman, on one arm and her lookalike daughter on the other. She also has two other children.
And the sight of the millionaire family coming up for jury selection is likely to drive a new dagger into the hearts of Nancy and Karim Iskander, whose sons Jacob, 8, and Mark, 11, are accused of murdering Grossman.
The teens were thrown into the air when Grossman hit a Mercedes driven by Grossman at a crosswalk in Westlake Village at 80 mph in September 2020.
Mark was thrown 250 feet into the air, with Nancy and Zachary, the boy's five-year-old brother, witnessing the horror that unfolded.
Rebecca Grossman, 60, center, went on Friday with her husband Dr. Peter Grossman and her daughter (right) walk arm in arm to the Los Angeles Superior Court in Van Nuys, California
Prosecutors say Grossman chased her secret lover, former Dodgers star Scott Erickson, after a cocktail lunch. At the time of the terrible accident, the two were on their way back to their apartment.
Despite the numerous scandalous allegations, Peter Grossman stands by his wife, who denies the murders – and is now trying to dispute claims that she was driving the killer's vehicle. Eyewitnesses insist they did – and say Erickson's vehicle narrowly missed the boys' before Grossman delivered the fatal blows.
But Nancy Iskander seems less forgiving overall. She regularly tweets about the upcoming trial and has repeatedly expressed her desire to see “justice” served.
The Grossmans were accused of moving the process too slowly.
Nancy also shared a photo of the grave where her two young sons are now buried. The bald photo serves as a reminder of the chaos and grief that Grossman is said to have caused.
Grossman, 62, is accused of driving her Mercedes SUV at 81 mph in 2020, killing brothers Mark Iskander, 11, left, and Jacob, eight
Earlier this week, the boy's mother, Nancy Iskander, wished her son Jacob a happy heavenly birthday and posted a photo of the shared grave where the two brothers are buried
Rebecca Grossman looked down as she entered the LA courthouse on Friday
Dr. Peter Grossman puts his arm around his wife as she walks into court on Friday
“Happy birthday in heaven Jacob, I miss you, not a second went by without me wishing I was with you. “Jacob was important, say his name today when he turns 12,” wrote Nancy Iskander on X
Back at the LA courthouse, all of the Grossmans look dejected, especially their daughter – perhaps knowing the seriousness of the charges their mother is now facing.
Grossman's daughter looked at the floor as she entered the building arm in arm with her mother.
Other photos showed Grossman linked by arm with her husband and daughter on either side.
Both Grossmans wore face coverings as they walked into court.
The face masks appear to be a new look for the couple, who were seen arriving at the courthouse without such protection earlier this week.
They could be a way to hide her feelings – as Grossman has been accused of grinning in previous snaps of her outside the House of Justice.
As the family entered court Friday, they tried to keep a somber expression
The face masks protect Grossman's emotions well from the cameras
Grossman looked down and tried to ignore the cameras waiting for her
The Grossman family arrives at the courthouse with a member of their legal team in tow
Rebecca Grossman leaves court with her husband Peter and their daughter after the wealthy socialite was accused of running over and killing two young brothers in Westlake Village in 2020
Grossman's defense team is expected to make its opening statements to a jury by the end of next week, years after the September 2020 incident.
Mark, 11, and eight-year-old Jacob Iskander were killed while crossing Triunfo Canyon Road at Saddle Mountain Drive.
Images from the crime scene show the front of Grossman's luxury car badly damaged by a crash that prosecutors say was caused by the teens who mowed them down at speeds of 80 mph in a 45 mph zone.
Grossman appeared to have been crying and was holding a crumpled tissue in her hand as she left
There will likely be many more images similar to this one, as the trial is set to begin late next week and last about six weeks
The Grossmans are seen leaving court with their legal team on Friday afternoon
But lawyers for the 62-year-old Grossman have suggested that it was former Minnesota Twins and Baltimore Orioles pitcher Scott Erickson who hit the Iskander brothers.
Grossman's attorney, Tony Buzzbee, has alleged that sheriff's deputies failed to inspect Erickson's black Mercedes, which Grossman was said to have been road racing in her white Mercedes at the time of the accident.
Buzbee claimed that Erickson falsely told investigators that the vehicle in question was a similar-looking non-AMG 2007 model that he also owned – and that his vehicle was never inspected after the incident.
The trial is expected to last six weeks and Grossman faces five charges: two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit-and-run resulting in death.
The coverings appear to be a way to hide their feelings, as the couple appeared to be almost grinning in previous pictures
Scott Erickson, Rebecca Grossman's alleged lover, is pictured in 2018. He was charged with a misdemeanor related to the accident in 2020 and settled his case in 2022
Mark and Jacob were with their parents and siblings when they were killed
The parents were able to prevent their younger siblings from being hit – but were unable to reach the two boys, Mark, 11, and Jacob, 8, in time
Erickson's black Mercedes drove through the crosswalk where the brothers were struck while walking with their parents before Grossman's car drove through.
According to the LA Times, Buzbee claimed that a sheriff's investigator never checked Erickson's vehicle after the incident and relied on the fact that he was driving his own SUV with 2007 plates at the time.
Buzbee told LA County Superior Court Judge Joseph Brandolino that Erickson presented that vehicle for examination in a civil lawsuit after the accident.
The attorney claims that Erickson was actually in a 2016 Mercedes-AMG on the day of the accident.
Buzbee said he would produce witnesses in court to lay the groundwork for the photo exhibit, saying one witness told an investigator she saw two vehicles hit the children that day.
The outlet reported that Buzbee added, “Why wouldn't law enforcement look at that vehicle he was driving that night?”
“Why wouldn't they, especially if you had a witness, say to the first witness who provided a statement that there were two collisions three to five seconds apart?” Why wouldn't they look at his vehicle?
Assistant District Attorney Ryan Gould said prosecutors had no evidence of the exhibition and did not know who took the photo Buzbee wanted to produce.
On Wednesday, Grossman was seen grabbing the arm of her husband, a plastic surgeon in LA, as they left court after the second day of their murder trial.
Jury selection for her trial in Van Nuys, California, continued Wednesday. Grossman was dressed modestly, wearing a gray cardigan, white collared shirt and black pants
Grossman's Mercedes after the incident. The black box showed that she was traveling well over the 45 mile limit
Mark Iskander, 11, and his younger brother Jacob, eight, died in the accident in 2020
Brothers Mark, 11, and Jacob Iskander, 8, were particularly close. Seen here in a family photo
Dr. Peter Grossman – dressed in a sharp blue suit – stands by her side despite accusations that his wife had a boozy lunch with Erickson.
Robert Apodaca, a former L.A. County deputy sheriff who specialized in traffic accidents, testified at a preliminary hearing that he calculated that Grossman was driving 71.7 miles per hour when she hit the boys and that the car's computer read 73 miles per hour. Witnesses believe the car was traveling at a speed of 81 miles per hour.
Apodaca said the impact threw Mark 254 feet, the farthest a person has ever traveled in a crash.
Erickson, now 55, was charged with a misdemeanor and his case was settled in February 2022 when a judge ordered him to make a public service announcement to high school students about the importance of safe driving.
Erickson, who is divorced, was a star with the Minnesota Twins and Baltimore Orioles. He then played for the Los Angeles Dodgers for one year in 2005 and finished his career with the New York Yankees in 2006.
The murder charge against Grossman is unusual because there was no charge of driving under the influence.
Her on-site breathalyzer test showed a blood alcohol content of 0.076 percent — slightly below California's legal limit of 0.08 percent.
A blood sample taken three hours after the accident showed a value of 0.08 percent.
Prosecutors will argue in court that Grossman was also taking Valium and was impaired when she got behind the wheel.
Grossman – whose husband runs the renowned Grossman Burn Center – will argue in her defense that there was a vehicle in front of her and that vehicle struck the boys, exonerating her and Erickson.
Karim and Nancy Iskander, the boys' parents, are shown at a court hearing in April 2022
Grossman claims the accident was caused by a poorly lit and poorly signaled crosswalk. Above the zebra crossing
Prosecutor Jaime Castro will argue that Grossman and Erickson were “speeding” through Westlake Village in their SUVs before Grossman hit the boys.
Castro said they had not planned to disclose Grossman's affair with Erickson, but it became relevant because “the defense wants to argue that the black car at issue in this particular scenario is not Erickson's.”
Nancy Iskander, the boys' mother, said she could not see which of the two vehicles hit her sons.
She said she and Jacob were on rollerblades when they crossed the street at the crosswalk while Mark was on his skateboard and her youngest son, five-year-old Zachary, was on his scooter. Her husband and daughter were jogging nearby.
“The speed was crazy,” she said of the two SUVs. “They zigzagged with each other as if they were playing or racing.”
“They didn't stop at the intersection.” They didn't stop at the intersection. They failed to stop as an 11-year-old sat on the hood of the car. Nobody stopped.'
Erickson played with the Los Angeles Dodgers for one year starting in 2005 and then ended his career with the New York Yankees in 2006. He was a star with the Minnesota Twins and the Baltimore Orioles
The Grossmans' $8 million mansion in Hidden Hills, Los Angeles
Jurors are expected to hear from a California Highway Patrol officer who stopped Grossman in 2013 after she was traveling 92 mph on the 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills and warned her she could kill someone.
Deputy Rafael Mejia said he found Grossman a half-mile from the scene of the accident.
She had pulled over and said she didn't know why her airbag deployed.
Grossman is out on a $2 million bond. Her trial is expected to last six weeks: if convicted on all charges, she could face up to 34 years in prison.