A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge on Monday denied Rebecca Grossman’s request to overturn her murder conviction in the slayings of two young brothers in a Westlake Village crosswalk, saying the facts and circumstances presented at trial justified the verdict.
Judge Joseph Brandolino upheld the ruling in the September 2020 murders of Mark and Jacob Iskander, saying the evidence was “sufficient to support implied malice beyond a reasonable doubt.”
He found that Grossman knew her actions posed a danger to human life and that she acted with conscious disregard, factors required by law for vehicular murder convictions.
After a six-week trial filled with drama and emotion, a jury of nine men and three women found Grossman guilty in February of two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of manslaughter driving and one count of hit and run in the deaths. brothers Iskander, aged 11 and 8.
Brandolino said the “totality of evidence” of Grossman’s actions before and after the fatal collision — including his drinking, excessive speed and fleeing the scene — supported the verdict.
The judge noted that she had been drinking at a Westlake Village restaurant and at a friend’s house and that, based on her blood alcohol level, she probably had more than two drinks and then drove while slightly impaired.
She accelerated between 73 mph and 81 mph in a residential area on Triunfo Canyon Road that had a posted limit of 45 mph, the judge said. And she was closely following her then-boyfriend Scott Erickson’s vehicle before the crash as the two raced home.
Brandolino also said Grossman left the scene. His SUV stopped three-tenths of a mile from the marked crosswalk where the boys were struck after the vehicle was turned off by its security system.
The judge also noted that Grossman “received a warning that speed can kill” when she received a speeding ticket from a California Highway Patrol officer in 2013.
James Spertus, Grossman’s new lead attorney who was hired after his conviction, argued that no evidence was presented at trial to support implied malice, which is necessary for murder charges.
“She doesn’t have a smart heart,” Spertus told the judge. “MS. Grossman didn’t want to move quickly and make fun of it. …It’s a tragedy, not a murder.
“This has been an incredibly tragic case,” Spertus continued.
But when the lawyer told the court that “Ms. Grossman suffers every day,” his words sparked audible disgust among onlookers, many of whom loyally supported the Iskanders.
Spertus also argued that testimony related to Grossman’s 2013 speeding ticket should not have been admitted, saying it was a weak attempt by the prosecution to demonstrate a implied malice. He said the warning Officer Robert Leffler allegedly gave Grossman when he ticketed him going 93 mph on Highway 101 was insufficient.
Spertus argued that although prosecutors promised the officer would specifically say he gave Grossman a warning that “speed kills,” he actually said that in general he gave that warning to everyone the drivers. The prosecution’s argument – that the warning indicated that if she continued to speed in the future it would be “with conscious disregard for human life” – was misleading, he said.
“You were misled into allowing certain evidence,” Spertus told Brandolino of the officer’s testimony.
Brandolino, however, countered that the testimony was not as accurate as that presented, but that it was not that far off from what he thought was going to be said.
Spertus also unsuccessfully tried to argue that Grossman was not told about his rights during nearly an hour of waiting in a police car after the accident and that, therefore, his statements during that period were inadmissible.
But Brandolino said the Grossman Burn Center co-founder was never in custody during that time and that a deputy placed her in a sheriff’s cruiser for her safety.
The judge also denied the defense’s request for a new trial based on a plethora of other arguments involving expert testimony and crime lab testing methods.
Grossman, who appeared in court wearing a brown shirt and pants, is scheduled to be sentenced June 10. She faces 34 years to life in prison.
California Daily Newspapers
