Rebecca Grossman sentenced to prison in crash that killed 2 boys – NBC Los Angeles

Grossman Burn Foundation co-founder Rebecca Grossman was sentenced Monday to 15 years to life in prison for a second-degree murder conviction and other charges stemming from a crash that killed two young boys in Westlake Village.

Prosecutors asked Supreme Court Justice Joseph Brandolino to sentence Grossman, who turns 61 on Friday, to an extended term of 34 years or life in prison for the deaths of Mark and Jacob Iskander, ages 11 and 8, in September 2020. The young boys were with their family on in a marked crosswalk in a community northwest of Los Angeles when they were struck by Grossman’s white Mercedes-Benz SUV.

Defense attorneys had asked for probation or a lesser state prison sentence of just over 12 years for the less serious vehicular homicide charges.

Grossman, wearing a brown jumpsuit, shook her head and cried during the sentencing hearing as victim impact statements were made in court. The judge asked that statements, usually given by family members, friends and others who know the victims, be short because the list of speakers was long.

Speakers included Mark and Jacob’s mother, uncle, grandmother, teachers, pastor and neighbors who shared stories about the boys.

Prosecutors said Grossman would be eligible for parole in about nine years. Her lawyers have 60 days to file an appeal.

Grossman was convicted Feb. 23 of two counts of second-degree murder and gross negligence vehicular homicide, and one count of hit-and-run. A judge ordered her jailed minutes after the jury’s verdict, denying a request from one of her trial lawyers to allow her to be released on $2 million bail while awaiting sentencing.

In a typed letter to the judge, Grossman wrote: “I am not a murderer and I ask you to accept this fact as true. My pain, my recognition of the pain the Iskanders experience and the pain I see my family endure, are punishments I have already suffered and will continue to suffer for the rest of my life. Please consider this suffering as you consider what further punishment to impose on me in this case.

“God is my witness, I didn’t see anyone or anything on the road. I swear I would drive my car into a tree to avoid hitting two little boys.”

She wrote that tragedies haunt her every day.

The parents of Mark and Jacob Iskander, who were fatally struck by a car driven by Rebecca Grossman, said they were surprised that two prosecutors handling the case were dismissed. The I-Team’s Eric Leonard reports.

“I can only imagine the pain that (the boys’ parents) Nancy and Karim Iskander are feeling from one minute to the next,” she wrote. “I will carry my pain for the rest of my life.”

Grossman wrote that she left roses at the crash site.

She maintained that she was not driving under the influence of alcohol, under the influence of alcohol or taking part in racing.

“From the very beginning, the facts were distorted and misrepresented, turning a tragic accident into a murder and me into a cold-blooded killer,” she wrote in a letter to the judge. “The voices demanding revenge and vengeance are reacting to the tragic loss of Mark and Jacob, but they do not accurately describe me or who I am. I’m not a murderer.”

Assistant District Attorneys Ryan Gould, Jamie Castro and Habib Balian wrote in their sentencing memorandum that Grossman’s actions since the night of the crash demonstrate a lack of remorse and a “narcissistic superiority that leads only to the single conclusion that she does not deserve she for any leniency.”

“She accused the victims, arguing that they had stepped off the crosswalk, had been thrown in front of her car, and that their mother was carelessly crossing the street with her children as it was beginning to get dark outside,” prosecutors said. in the note.

A memorial has been organized to honor the lives of two young brothers who died at the hands of Rebecca Grossman in a car accident. Bailey Miller reports for NBC4 News February 25, 2024.

Prosecutors also say she blamed her ex-boyfriend, former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson. She claimed he hit the children first, but prosecutors said there was no evidence to support this claim.

Prosecutors said Grossman was driving at a high rate of speed, was under the influence of alcohol and had both alcohol and Valium in her system. Evidence at trial suggested she was driving at a speed of 73 to 81 mph and was driving at 45 mph the second before the crash, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors say Grossman failed to return to the scene of the crash, which caused the SUV’s airbag to deploy, and failed to provide medical treatment to the boy. They said the SUV’s engine stopped about a quarter-mile from the intersection.

In their verdict, her new defense attorneys James Spertus and Samuel Josephs responded that the crash was a terrible accident.

“Ms. Grossman is responsible for causing the accident, but the crime does not warrant a life sentence or the lengthy prison term reserved for the most callous and heinous crimes,” they wrote in the briefing.

In their application, the defense lawyers wrote that the judge could impose a suspended sentence with a suspended prison sentence. The

At last Monday’s hearing, the judge denied a motion for a new trial filed by her current attorneys, who replaced the team of lawyers representing her at trial.

Jurors deliberated for about nine hours before rejecting her lead trial attorney Tony Buzbee’s claim that Erickson, who was driving a black Mercedes-Benz SUV just in front of Grossman’s vehicle, hit the boys first.

The victims’ mother, Nancy Iskander, broke down in tears after the first guilty verdict was announced in February. Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse shortly after the verdict was announced, she said she had no hatred for Grossman and that it was heartbreaking to see the defendant taken away in handcuffs.

She said that every day she came to court for the hearing, she felt like she was attending her sons’ funeral.

“It (the trial) wasn’t easy, but it will give me closure,” she said.