A heated courtroom exchange erupted Monday in the critical punitive phase of the civil wrongful death trial against Rebecca Grossman and her former lover, former Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson.
The co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation and the former major league player have already been found responsible for the deaths of two young children. Now the jury is considering financial penalties in addition to the $176 million that has been awarded.
On Monday, Grossman's husband, Dr. Peter Grossman, took the witness stand for the second day. The renowned plastic surgeon was questioned for hours by an attorney for the family of Mark and Jacob Iskander, ages 11 and 8, who were run over and killed by Rebecca Grossman in 2020 in a Westlake Village crosswalk.
Brian Panish asked him about the family's wealth and his wife's responsibility in the children's deaths, then the surgeon apologized, saying that “the pain the Iskanders have been through is enormous and there are not enough words. All I can say is that I am very, very sorry.”
But Panish wanted nothing to do with that.
He hammered Grossman with questions about whether his wife had been drinking and racing with Erickson the night he hit the children with his Mercedes SUV at what experts testified was nearly 73 mph. Rebecca Grossman, 62, is currently serving a sentence of 15 years to life in prison for second-degree murder.
Panish responded, “You never said you were sorry before you came here just now after the jury awarded the money to your wife, did you, sir?”
Mark, left, and Jacob Iskander.
(Courtesy of the Iskander family)
“That's not true,” the doctor responded.
Panish responded: “Do you admit that your wife killed the two children? Do you admit it? Yes or no?”
“I admit that Rebecca was accidentally involved in the deaths of these children,” Grossman responded.
Panish then challenged him to “look the jury square in the eye and admit that your wife killed those two children who were speeding under the influence of alcohol. Can you?”
During an eight-week wrongful death trial, jurors heard that Grossman was speeding when she struck the children while tailgating the AMG Mercedes pickup truck driven by her then-lover, Erickson, after having drinks at a nearby saloon.
The jury concluded that Rebecca Grossman and Erickson, 58, were both negligent, acted with malice and that both “acted in concert in the course of their activities, which led to the fatal collision.” They awarded $176 million to the children's parents, Nancy and Karim Iskander, and a surviving brother. Compensatory and emotional distress damages were split between Rebecca Grossman and Erickson.
On Monday, Panish asked the surgeon: “Do you not apologize at all for your wife's driving under the influence? Do you, sir?”
Grossman: “Sir, I apologize to the Iskanders for everything they have been through.”
But Grossman described as inaccurate his wife's characterizations of driving drunk, racing and hitting the children after going 82 mph in a 45 mph zone. Grossman, who was tested several hours after the collision, registered a blood alcohol level of 0.08, the legal limit in California.
Panish asked the doctor if it was inconvenient for him to testify because his wife had killed two children.
Grossman called that comment “very disrespectful.”
But Panish pressed again. “Can you tell the jury right now that you are extremely sorry for your wife's speeding, drinking and the death of your children? Yes or no?”
The judge ordered the surgeon to answer yes or no.
“Yes,” Grossman responded.
Panish seized on the admission: “So you understand that she was driving under the influence, killed the children and tried to flee?” – a reference to Rebecca Grossman's car that stopped a third of a mile from the crash site because the Mercedes' safety system shut off the severely damaged vehicle.
“That's not what he just said,” the doctor interjected in an angry tone.
In addition to two counts of second-degree murder, Rebecca Grossman was convicted in 2024 of two counts of felony vehicular manslaughter and one count of hit-and-run resulting in death. A California Court of Appeals upheld her conviction and she appealed to the state Supreme Court. Although she and Peter Grossman were separated at the time, the vehicle she was driving belonged to him.
According to witness testimony in the criminal and civil trials, Erickson and Grossman had been drinking at a Westlake Village restaurant and were headed to Grossman's home on the night of the accident. Mark and Jacob were with their mother and younger brother at a crosswalk on Triunfo Canyon Road when witnesses said two cars sped toward them. Erickson, during the civil trial, testified that he avoided hitting the brothers, but Grossman did not.
Panish told jurors in Van Nuys that they needed to award punitive damages not only to punish Grossman and Erickson but also to send a message about their conduct. He questioned whether Erickson, a former World Series winner, and Grossman were hiding assets.
Rebecca Grossman and her daughter outside a courthouse in Van Nuys in 2024.
(Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
The punitive phase of the civil trial began Thursday, after jurors determined that Grossman had acted with malice and oppression and Erickson had acted with malice, oppression or fraud.
On Monday, Panish, for the second day, questioned Peter Grossman about a series of property transfers involving homes in Texas and Georgia and liens on the couple's 14,000-square-foot mansion in Hidden Hills. Panish played prison phone recordings that suggested they were seeking to transfer assets to their children and protect them from the Iskanders. He also questioned a $1 million loan from the trust for Peter Grossman's special needs brother and other transfers, including nearly $200,000 to a lawyer friend.
Panish and Grossman clashed frequently during the doctor's testimony, and the judge repeatedly reminded him to answer only what he knew, not what he believed.
When asked if his wife acted reprehensibly, the doctor said she acted “negligently and was responsible for the accidental death of at least one of those children.”
At one point, Peter Grossman said he did not remember any derogatory comments he had made to his wife about Nancy Iskander. Panish played a recording of a prison call between the couple. The doctor looked down as he was heard saying, “She's full of s–.”
The judge said he expected the jury to begin deliberations in the punitive phase on Tuesday.
