LOS ANGELES, CA — A jury ordered socialite Rebecca Grossman to pay $21 million in punitive damages and former Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson to pay $1.17 million for their roles in a 2020 crash that killed two young brothers in Westlake Village.
The punitive damages verdict brings the total award to the Iskander family to nearly $198 million, following last week’s $176 million compensatory damages judgment. The Van Nuys Superior Court jury found that both Grossman and Erickson acted with malice when they allegedly raced their vehicles through a crosswalk, striking 11-year-old Mark Iskander and 8-year-old Jacob Iskander on September 29, 2020. Grossman is currently serving 15 years to life in prison after being convicted of second-degree murder, while Erickson was not criminally charged but found negligent in the civil case.
“Their lives will never be the same,” Iskander family attorney Brian Panish said in his closing argument Tuesday. “He (Erickson) and Rebecca Grossman deserve each other because they’re both the same kind of person.” Panish had requested $20 million from Grossman and $1 million from Erickson in punitive damages, amounts the jury slightly exceeded. The lawsuit, filed in January 2021, alleged that Grossman and Erickson consumed cocktails before engaging in a speed contest along Triunfo Canyon Road. Grossman struck the children at approximately 80 mph in a 45 mph zone while they were crossing in a marked crosswalk with their mother Nancy Iskander and younger brother Zachary.
During the punitive phase of the trial, Erickson testified about his remorse and financial situation. “I feel terrible about what happened. I feel bad about my actions and some of the terrible behavior I did,” Erickson told jurors. “For six years, there is not a day that has gone by that I haven’t been sad and upset and wish I’d done something different. I truly believe now if I had somehow been able to stop, I possibly could have saved their lives.” The former major leaguer, who earned more than $46 million during his MLB career, testified that bad business decisions, divorce and taxes left him with only $9,000 in his bank account, a $13,000 MLB pension, a $242,000 retirement account, and $200,000 in equity in a Las Vegas condominium. He admitted to owning two black Mercedes vehicles and presenting a different Mercedes to authorities than the one he was driving the night of the collision.
Grossman’s defense attorney Esther Holm argued that the $176 million compensatory award already sent a sufficient message. “You don’t have to award punitive damages,” Holm told jurors, characterizing the deaths as “an unintended accident.” However, court documents revealed that Grossman attempted to flee the scene and likely would have succeeded if her vehicle had not automatically shut down after sensing the massive impact. The Grossman Burn Foundation co-founder then lied to law enforcement about her speed and alcohol consumption, claiming she did not know why her airbag deployed despite massive front-end damage to her Mercedes SUV. Grossman registered a blood alcohol level of 0.08, the legal limit in California, when tested several hours after the crash. Panish accused the Grossmans of attempting to conceal assets, playing recordings of prison calls between Rebecca and her husband Dr. Peter Grossman discussing bitcoin wallets and transferring assets to their children after the crash.
Rebecca Grossman was convicted on February 23, 2024, of two counts each of second-degree murder and vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, plus one count of hit-and-run driving. A panel of the Second District Court of Appeal upheld her conviction in March, and the California Supreme Court rejected her petition for review on Wednesday, the same day as the punitive damages verdict. During her criminal trial, prosecutors argued that Grossman had been drinking with Erickson before driving at 73 mph and striking the children. Expert witnesses testified that Mark’s body was found more than 250 feet away with the vehicle’s grille marks, while Jacob was found on the other side of the road. Dr. Peter Grossman, a renowned plastic surgeon whose father founded the Grossman Burn Center, was included as a defendant because he owned the Mercedes his wife was driving.
Nancy Iskander testified during the trial about the lasting trauma from witnessing her sons’ deaths. “Part of me is simply dead,” Iskander said. “Part of my heart is gone.” A psychiatrist testified that Nancy Iskander demonstrated multiple symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder since the crash. She described being on inline skates with her youngest son Zachary on his scooter when Erickson’s black Mercedes narrowly missed them, followed by Grossman’s vehicle striking Mark, who was on a skateboard, and Jacob, who was also on inline skates. The family had been taking a routine evening walk in their neighborhood during the COVID-19 pandemic. Panish challenged Dr. Peter Grossman during testimony, asking him to admit his wife had killed the children while driving under the influence at excessive speed, which the surgeon initially resisted before ultimately acknowledging responsibility.
The Iskander family released a statement expressing gratitude while acknowledging their continued grief. “As you might imagine, our hearts remain broken and no verdict can ease the pain of losing our two sweet boys,” the statement read. “It is a profoundly sad day when a jury is forced to place a dollar value on the lives of our children.” The family noted they expect the verdict to be appealed and that it may be years before any money is collected. Legal analyst Royal Oakes said the punitive damages award indicated jurors were “angry” during testimony, particularly regarding evidence that Dr. Grossman was attempting to hide assets. “The lawyer for the parents was able to accomplish that by showing that Dr. Grossman was trying to hide assets, and he and his wife were basically trash-talking the mother of the dead boys,” Oakes said. The punitive award was proportionally smaller than typical cases where such damages often exceed compensatory awards by multiples.
With both phases of the civil trial concluded, the court will enter final judgments against Grossman, Erickson, and Dr. Peter Grossman. The defendants retain the right to appeal the nearly $200 million total award through the civil court system, a process the Iskander family acknowledged could take years to resolve.
