By TERRI VERMEULEN KEITH
VAN NUYS — Called to the stand as the defense’s first witness, the director of the Grossman Burn Centers testified Tuesday that he had been in a vehicle hundreds of times when his wife, Rebecca, was behind the wheel but that he didn’t recall whether she drove over the speed limit.
Rebecca Grossman is charged with two counts each of murder and vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one felony count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death in connection with a Sept. 29, 2020, crash in Westlake Village that killed 11-year-old Mark Iskander and his 8-year-old brother, Jacob.
The prosecution alleges that Grossman was speeding at the time she hit the boys, with Deputy District Attorney Ryan Gould telling jurors that Grossman was “flooring it” to get herself up to 81 miles per hour on a 45-mile-per-hour street and driving just over 70 mph at the time of impact. The older boy died at the scene, and his 8-year-old sibling died at a hospital.
Grossman’s attorneys insisted she was not the driver responsible for the deadly crash, which they contend occurred outside a crosswalk. Lead defense attorney Tony Buzbee — who contends that Grossman was driving 52 mph “at best” — pointed the blame at former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson, whom he alleges was driving a black Mercedes SUV just ahead of Grossman’s white Mercedes SUV.
Erickson was described by the prosecutor as Grossman’s boyfriend at the time.
Grossman’s husband, Dr. Peter Grossman, said he learned from their daughter about the deadly crash, telling jurors that his wife was “almost inconsolable, crying, trembling, incredibly emotional” when he picked her up at a women’s center in Lynwood about 30 hours after the crash.
He said he subsequently took photos of bruising and contusions to her body the following morning when she complained of soreness and pain.
Under cross-examination by Deputy District Attorney Jamie Castro, the…
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