Rebecca Grossman sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for accident with two deaths

Celebrity Rebecca Grossman was sentenced on Monday to 15 years to life in prison for the death of two young brothers.

Grossman, co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation, was convicted by a jury in Los Angeles in February in two counts each of second degree murder, negligent homicide and one count of Hit and run accident 2020 that killed 11-year-old Mark Iskander and his brother, 8-year-old Jacob. The boys were hit as they walked with their family across a crosswalk in Westlake Village.

Superior Court Judge Joseph Brandolino rejected prosecutors’ request to sentence Grossman to 34 years to life in prison, saying such a long sentence “simply is not justified here.”

Grossman, who turns 61 on Friday, spoke at her sentencing and expressed her sorrow to the family, stressing that she never saw the boys on the street the night of the accident.

“God knows I’ve never seen anyone,” she said. “I’ve never seen anyone. I think he knows the truth.”

Prosecutors had asked for 34 years to life in prison, writing that she “more than deserved” the maximum sentence for the deaths of Mark and Jacob on September 29, 2020.

In their sentencing memorandum, Assistant District Attorneys Ryan Gould, Jamie Castro and Habib Balian wrote that the defendant’s actions since the night of the accident “demonstrate a complete lack of remorse and a narcissistic sense of superiority that leads to only one conclusion: that she deserves no leniency whatsoever.”

Last week, Grossman’s new defense attorneys James Spertus and Samuel Josephs countered: “There was a terrible accident, and Ms. Grossman is responsible for the accident, but the criminal conduct does not justify a life sentence or the kind of long prison sentence provided for the worst, most heinous crimes.”

During a hearing on June 3, the judge denied a motion for a retrial filed by Spertus and Josephs, who replaced the legal team that represented Grossman during the trial.

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Grossman’s lawyers asked for a suspended sentence or a shorter prison sentence of just over 12 years on the involuntary manslaughter charge.

Judge Brandolino described the children’s deaths as an “unimaginable loss” and pointed out that Grossman had no criminal record and had no philanthropic activities.

Although the judge acknowledged that the defendant had behaved “incredibly selfishly” after the accident, he added: “She is not a monster, even if the prosecution is trying to portray her as one.”

Grossman wrote a letter to the judge, saying, “I am not a murderer and I ask that you please recognize that fact. My pain, my recognition of the pain the Iskanders are suffering, and the pain my family is enduring are punishments I am already suffering and will continue to suffer for the rest of my life. Please take that suffering into account when you consider what punishment you will impose on me in this case.”

During the hours-long sentencing hearing on Monday, Grossman could be seen crying as people spoke during the hearing. She said her lawyers advised her not to contact the boys’ family because it would be tantamount to “influencing the testimony.”

She added that she would rather have “driven into a brick wall” than hit two children. She said the boys’ deaths were something she would carry with her “until her last breath.”

The boys’ mother, Nancy Iskander, said during the hearing that she disputed Grossman’s claim that she had been advised by her lawyers not to try to speak to the victims’ parents. She also said she saw Grossman outside the hospital emergency room that night.

“She looked me in the eyes!” Iskander said, raising his voice. “You looked me in the eyes. You knew they were going to die.”

During Grossman’s six-week trial, defense lawyers attempted to pin the fatal crash on Grossman’s then-boyfriend and former LA Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson, claiming his black Mercedes-Benz SUV struck the two boys first.

Prosecutors said the boys were crossing the street with their family in a marked crosswalk when they were struck by Grossman’s vehicle. Gould, the assistant district attorney, told jurors in his closing argument that debris from the crash matched that from Grossman’s vehicle.

He told jurors there was “not a shred of evidence” to support the defense’s claim that the black SUV hit the children first, calling it a “ridiculous theory.”

Prosecutors alleged Grossman was driving at up to 81 miles per hour, nearly twice the speed limit, just seconds before the crash. Data from her car showed she was driving about 73 miles per hour at the time of the crash, prosecutors said.

In the typed letter Grossman wrote to the judge before Monday’s hearing, she said she wrote a letter and left roses at the scene of the accident and “reliving the life-shattering split second of the accident a million times in my head.” But she insisted she “did not drive while impaired or intoxicated, and was not racing.”