By TERRI VERMEULEN KEITH
VAN NUYS — The defense rested its portion of the case Tuesday without calling Rebecca Grossman to the stand in her own defense on murder and other charges stemming from a crash that killed two young brothers in Westlake Village in 2020.
During a hearing outside the jury’s presence, Grossman — co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation — told Superior Court Judge Joseph Brandolino that she understood she had a right to testify or not to testify.
After the defense rested, the prosecution called two brief rebuttal witnesses Tuesday morning, with a final rebuttal witness expected in the afternoon.
Jurors are expected to be instructed to return to the Van Nuys courtroom Wednesday for jury instructions. It has not yet been determined whether closing arguments will begin Wednesday or Thursday.
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 the crash that left 11-year-old Mark Iskander and his 8-year-old brother, Jacob, dead. The boys were allegedly hit by Grossman’s speeding white Mercedes-Benz SUV as they crossed a Westlake Village street with their family in September 2020.
The prosecution alleges that Grossman was speeding at the time she hit the boys in the crosswalk, with Deputy District Attorney Ryan Gould telling jurors that Grossman was “flooring it” to get herself up to 81 mph on a 45-mph street and driving just over 70 mph at the time of impact. The older boy died at the scene, and his sibling died at a hospital.
The prosecutor told jurors that Grossman wouldn’t have hit the boys if she had been driving at the speed limit, and said she “doesn’t stop for over a third of a mile away.”
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…
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