More than a month into a civil trial, lawyers have rested their cases in the wrongful death suit against Rebecca Grossman and Scott Erickson that stemmed from a double fatal crash in Westlake Village.
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge told jurors on May 27 that the evidence had concluded. For weeks, the jury listened to dozens of witnesses, some from the stand in a Van Nuys courtroom, others testifying in recorded videos or answering questions via livestream.
Most were called by lawyers representing the family of two young boys struck and killed in a crosswalk on Sept. 29, 2020. Mark and Jacob Iskander, 11 and 8, were crossing Triunfo Canyon Road with their mom and younger brother when witnesses said they saw and heard vehicles speeding toward them.
Grossman, co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation, and Erickson, her then-boyfriend and former Major League Baseball player, had been headed to her home near Westlake Lake. They drove separate vehicles after having drinks nearby with Erickson’s longtime friend.
Grossman, wife of plastic surgeon Dr. Peter Grossman, was driving a white SUV. A black SUV, reportedly driven by Erickson, reached the crosswalk first. Nancy Iskander grabbed her youngest son, the closest to her, and dove out of the path of the vehicle, she has said. She looked up and saw the white SUV pass the spot where Mark and Jacob had been.
In 2024, a jury found Grossman, of Hidden Hills, guilty of two counts of second-degree murder. She was driving 73 mph in a 45 mph zone at the time of the crash, experts said.
Jury selection for the civil trial started mid-April, with the first witness taking the stand on April 24. Since, jurors heard from friends and family, doctors and paramedics, experts and law enforcement personnel. They testified about the crash, its aftermath and about Mark, Jacob and their family.
Deputy Cory Gaudet, of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, described the scene as chaotic when he got to the intersection minutes after the crash. He spoke to witnesses that night, including Nancy Iskander, he testified on May 27.
“She was despondent, distraught, upset,” Gaudet said, his voice breaking.
The boys’ mom had asked him how was she going to go on with her life, he said. He called for a chaplain to respond to the location when she told him she was religious.
“I said a prayer with her,” Gaudet testified. “She was just in disbelief that this whole thing had occurred.”
On May 29, the jury returns to court and Judge Huey Cotton said they would hear about the law and instructions for their deliberations. Attorneys are expected to begin closing arguments on June 1.
What happened the day of the crash?
Before the crash, Grossman, Erickson and Erickson’s longtime friend Royce Clayton had met for drinks. The three then planned to meet up at Grossman’s house by the lake to watch the presidential debate.
Erickson and Grossman drove separately and Clayton, also a former MLB player, stopped at a store. In sometimes emotional and tense testimony, Clayton told jurors that Erickson later said he had been racing down the road before a fatal crash – wording that Erickson later contested. The two spoke over the phone the night of the crash.
Erickson said he saw children in the crosswalk and swerved to avoid hitting them, according to Clayton. Erickson told him that he saw Grossman, driving right behind him, hit the children, Clayton said. Erickson later testified that he had sped up to avoid hitting the boys, and he did not see Grossman hit the boys.
Grossman, now 62 and in state prison, was sentenced to 15 years to life. She appealed, and a state appellate court upheld her murder conviction in March. She has since petitioned the California Supreme Court to review her case.
Grossman has not testified in the civil trial. Erickson testified over multiple days. In 2021, he was charged with misdemeanor reckless driving. The court ordered judicial diversion, and the case was later resolved, officials said.
What did Royce Clayton tell a deputy?
Gaudet was the last witness to take the stand in the courtroom. Called by Erickson’s attorney, Gaudet told jurors he spoke to Clayton over the phone late on Sept. 30, 2020. Clayton had reached out to a close family friend who was former law enforcement and had connected Clayton with the sheriff’s department.
Gaudet testified that Clayton told him about meeting up with Erickson and Grossman before the crash and about phone calls with Erickson that night. Clayton said Erickson told him there had been a terrible accident, Gaudet testified.
Clayton told the deputy that he had encouraged Erickson to report any information he had to law enforcement, Gaudet said. But Clayton hadn’t provided any information in terms of how the crash had happened, the deputy testified. There were long pauses, however, and Gaudet said he thought Clayton might be holding something back.
Gaudet then told an attorney for the Iskander family that Clayton seemed reluctant and had told him that the two former baseball players had been friends for decades. Clayton told the deputy that he was a baseball coach in the community and “it was weighing very heavily upon him,” Gaudet said.
“It almost seemed to me like he felt the need to report the incident but wasn’t willing to fully disclose all the information or tell on a friend,” he said.
Cheri Carlson covers the environment and county government for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at cheri.carlson@vcstar.com.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Here’s the latest in the Rebecca Grossman civil trial
Reporting by Cheri Carlson, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
