Jury Deliberations Continue in Rebecca Grossman Lawsuit
Jury deliberations continued Wednesday in the lawsuit against rebecca grossman and former Dodger Scott Erickson after jurors spent Tuesday without reaching a verdict. The case asks a civil jury to decide financial responsibility for the deaths of two boys struck in Westlake Village.
Brian Panish told jurors Monday in Van Nuys Superior Court that the deaths were not accidental, saying, "It’s not an accident when you speed and you drink and you drive impaired. Who would act like that except someone who thinks they can do whatever they want and there’s no consequences?" The plaintiffs are Nancy Iskander, Karim Iskander and their son Zachary, who filed the lawsuit in January 2021.
Westlake Village claims
The family’s lawsuit says Grossman struck and killed the boys with her car on a Westlake Village street. It also alleges that Grossman and Erickson were racing when the boys were hit, and that the two had cocktails on Sept. 29, 2020 before later engaging in a speed contest along Triunfo Canyon Road.
Esther Holm rejected the claim that Grossman was impaired by alcohol or Valium, and said she was traveling about 52 mph, about 7 mph over the speed limit. Holm also said Grossman was not racing Erickson and did not try to flee the scene.
Panish and Holm
Panish has said the plaintiffs sought damages that should total hundreds of millions of dollars. Jeff Braun, who represents Erickson, told jurors his client was not negligent, racing or impaired, and said the maximum damage award should be $10 million. Braun also said, "My client lied to the police and to lawyers in this case," while Holm said, "She wasn’t racing, that’s all speculation," and described the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s investigation as "locked in."
Jurors resumed work Wednesday after a full day of deliberations on Tuesday, keeping the focus on who, if anyone, must pay damages in a case that now turns on how the jury weighs the competing accounts of speed, drinking and driving impairment.
