Scott Erickson feels remorse for his actions related to the deaths of two boys in a 2020 crash, the former Major League Baseball player told an attorney in a Van Nuys courtroom on June 5.
Erickson, a defendant in a wrongful death case, again took the witness stand as the weekslong trial continued with the focus now on the question of punitive damages. The jury already found both Rebecca Grossman, the wife of plastic surgeon Dr. Peter Grossman, and Erickson, her then-boyfriend, to blame in the deaths.
Mark and Jacob Iskander, 11 and 8, were struck and killed while crossing a Westlake Village street with their mom and younger brother. They were in a crosswalk when witnesses said they saw and heard vehicles racing toward them. The two boys never made it to the other side.
Grossman and Erickson were racing toward the intersection on Triunfo Canyon Road after drinking and didn’t stop when the two boys were hit, the family’s attorney said.
Driving in separate vehicles, the two sped past people biking and walking. Erickson, driving ahead of Grossman, said he saw the boys and accelerated to avoid them. Grossman was driving 73 mph in the 45 mph zone when Mark and Jacob were struck, according to experts.
“They were racing. He almost killed them. She killed them,” the Iskanders’ attorney Brian Panish has said.
The boys’ family filed the wrongful death suit against Grossman, now 62, and Erickson. After weeks of testimony, the jury reached a verdict on June 3, awarding the Iskander family $176 million. The amount included past and future damages for the loss of the boys and serious emotional distress.
A second, shorter phase of the trial started the following day, with attorneys giving another round of opening statements. At issue now is how much, if any, punitive damages will be awarded in the case.
Panish told the jury that he believes the evidence will show reprehensible conduct at the highest level.
“To drink, to race, to take the lives of two kids who had their life in front of them and to do this to their family, that has to be punished,” the attorney said.
Erickson testifies about years since the crash
Panish asked Erickson, 58, how he would rate his own conduct. Erickson responded that he thought it would be worse if his vehicle had hit the boys.
Later, Erickson’s attorney Jeff Braun asked his client to put into his own words how he felt.
“I feel terrible about what’s happened. I feel really bad about my actions and some of the terrible behavior I did and not being very honest,” Erickson said.
He testified that not a day had gone by since the crash that he had not been sad, upset and wished he had done something differently.
Panish then asked Erickson if he had ever tried to contact the boys’ family in any way during those years. He had not, Erickson said.
During the civil trial, Erickson testified that he wasn’t racing and was not impaired. But he also said he lied to police and attorneys, including about what vehicle he drove that night.
Erickson was charged with misdemeanor reckless driving in 2021. The court ordered judicial diversion, and the case was later dismissed, officials said.
In 2024, a jury found Grossman guilty of two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of vehicular manslaughter and hit-and-run driving. She was sentenced to 15 years to life and is currently in state prison.
A court of appeals upheld her convictions earlier this year, and she has since petitioned the California Supreme Court to review her case. Attorneys in the civil trial were not allowed to bring up her conviction or her current whereabouts.
Grossman, Erickson speed toward Westlake Lake home
Before the crash, Grossman, Erickson and Erickson’s longtime friend had gone for drinks together.
The three then planned to meet up at Grossman’s house by the Westlake Lake to watch the presidential debate, the friend Royce Clayton testified.
Erickson and Grossman drove separately, with Grossman in a white Mercedes SUV and Erickson in a black one. Clayton, also a former MLB player, had stopped at a store.
The black SUV reached the crosswalk first. Nancy Iskander, the boys’ mom, grabbed her youngest son, the closest to her, and dove out of the path of the vehicle, she said. She looked up and saw the white SUV pass the spot where Mark and Jacob had been.
Grossman, Erickson trial starts new phase
In their earlier verdict, jurors answered “yes” on whether Grossman engaged in conduct with malice or oppression, and that Erickson had done so with malice, oppression or fraud, prompting the punitive damages phase.
If they decide to award additional damages, jurors are expected to consider the defendants’ conduct and also their financial condition. The amount must be fair, just and no more than necessary to achieve its purpose, Braun told jurors.
He listed his client’s finances, from $9,000 in a bank account to $242,000 in an investment fund and $800,000 in Erickson’s baseball pension. His client currently receives around $13,000 monthly from his pension.
On June 5, Panish asked Erickson about a $250,000 investment in a company he made several years ago, and Erickson said he didn’t have any details about what was happening with the venture. The attorney also asked where the more than $42 million had gone that Erickson was paid during his MLB years.
Erickson, who said his last job was as a commentator pre-2020, said some went to taxes.
“I put money into real estate that I no longer own,” Erickson testified. “I made some bad business decisions. When I got divorced, I paid my wife.”
Cheri Carlson is a reporter for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at cheri.carlson@vcstar.com.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Former MLB player Erickson testifies again in his, Grossman’s trial
Reporting by Cheri Carlson, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
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By Cheri Carlson, Ventura County Star | USA TODAY Network
