LA jury awards $22 million punitive damages to family of brothers killed in hit-and-run by socialite

LOS ANGELES (CN) — A Los Angeles County jury Wednesday awarded $22 million punitive damages to the family of two brothers who were killed in a hit-and-run crash in 2020 by Rebecca Grossman, the wife of a renowned plastic surgeon, as they were crossing the street with their mother.

The jury previously found Grossman and former professional baseball player Scott Erickson, her lover at the time, were negligent in the deaths of the two boys. Jurors also found they acted with malice, allowing the boys’ family to seek punitive damages on top of the $176 million in compensatory damages already awarded.

After deliberating for two days in the second phase of the trial, the 12-person jury returned with a verdict awarding $21 million in punitive damages against Rebecca Grossman and $1.17 million against Erickson. When polled, all but one juror agreed that the verdict reflected their decision.

In a statement to Courthouse News, the attorney representing the family of Mark and Jacob Iskander said the punitive damages awarded “sought to punish the defendants and to deter others from drinking and driving and racing and taking the life of another human being.”

“There are no winners in this case, but we appreciate that the jury recognizes the tremendous loss to these parents and this family,” said Brian Panish, of the LA-based firm Panish Shea Ravipudi.

Panish went on to say that Erickson should have been charged criminally and convicted in the case like Rebecca Grossman.

“This verdict will ruin him financially, and that is because we have a civil justice system that holds wrongdoers accountable,” he added.

Representatives for the defendants did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Rebecca Grossman, 62, is serving a sentence of 15 years to life following her 2024 convictions on two counts of murder, two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter and one count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death. A California appeals court upheld those convictions in March.

Mark and Jacob Iskander, ages 11 and 8, were killed on Sept. 29, 2020, while crossing a marked crosswalk in a residential neighborhood of Westlake Village, an affluent city in western LA County. They were walking with their parents and two younger siblings.

Grossman and Erickson, a former MLB pitcher who won a World Series with the Minnesota Twins, are accused of racing separate Mercedes SUVs after drinking margaritas at a Westlake Village restaurant.

The boys’ mother, Nancy Iskander, testified at Grossman’s murder trial the SUVs approached the crosswalk at “crazy” speeds and changed lanes as if they were playing a game. She grabbed one of her younger children and jumped clear of Erickson’s black SUV, but Grossman’s white SUV struck Mark and Jacob.

Grossman did not stop after hitting the boys, despite her airbags deploying. Her SUV came to a halt about one-third of a mile from the crosswalk.

Erickson, 58, avoided criminal charges by agreeing to film a public service announcement about safe driving.

Peter Grossman serves as medical director of the Grossman Burn Center and founded Grossman Plastic Surgery in West Hills, California. He also maintains contracts with hospitals and burn centers both within and outside California.

During the trial, Brian Panish, the attorney representing the Iskanders accused the Grossmans of conspiring to prevent the Iskanders from reaching their assets.

Jurors heard recorded prison phone calls in which Peter and Rebecca Grossman discussed hiding equity in their home from Panish, whom they referred to as an “ambulance chaser," as well as agreeing that the family’s assets should be placed in trusts for their children.

Panish also highlighted a series of property transfers involving the couple’s 14,000-square-foot mansion. According to Panish, ownership was first transferred from both spouses to Peter Grossman alone through a promissory note executed by Rebecca Grossman and later placed into a trust.

“It’s a plan and a scheme to not pay, and it doesn’t start until after Sept. 29, 2020. Why would they do that? Why would they say, ‘We want to protect the money? Don’t let Panish get it.’ It’s not me, it’s the Iskander family. But they don’t care about the Iskander family. You hear how they talk about them. They have no remorse, none,” he said during closing arguments.

Panish additionally highlighted Peter Grossman’s view on his wife’s liability for her conduct, telling the jury that Grossman did not believe his wife’s crime was reprehensible.

“He doesn’t believe that, you’re the only one that can make them believe it, because money is the only thing that’s going to do it,” he said.

As for Erickson, Panish said that punitive damages were a way to “send a message” that his behavior was not acceptable, emphasizing that Erickson “walked away” from the death of the Iskander children with only a public service announcement.

“You can send a message to others that if you do this, we’re going to hold you accountable, we’re going to make it hurt,” he said.

In total, Panish asked the jury to award $21 million in punitive damages, split with $20 million against the Grossmans and $1 million against Erickson.

In contrast, Grossman’s attorney, Esther Holm of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, told the jury they don’t have to add any additional damages to the $177 million they previously awarded during the first phase of the trial.

“It sent a message, clearly sent a message. It tells us what you’re thinking. We understand that, and we respect it. It already is a serious consequence of this accident,” she said, adding, “If you feel like the message has been sent, you don’t have to award more punitive damages.”

Holm said that Rebecca Grossman never intended to harm the Iskander children and that the jury should focus on the conduct at the time of the accident.

“This is not a situation where you have somebody cold-blooded murder, as sometimes we see in the news; this is an accident, and it’s an accident that had the worst possible consequences that you could ever imagine,” she said during closing arguments.

Holm also tried to separate Rebecca Grossman’s conduct from Erickson’s, saying that there was evidence that Erickson did “involve some intentionality,” while there was no evidence of intentionality related to Rebecca Grossman.

“Even though you have found that Ms. Grossman acted in concert with Mr. Erickson, in deciding this phase of the trial, you need to decide separately for Ms. Grossman, her conduct, and don’t combine it with Mr. Erickson,” she said.

Meanwhile, Erickson’s attorney, Deborah Tropp-Thompson of McNeil Tropp & Braun, asked the jury to award the “smallest symbolic amount” of damages due to Erickson’s current financial condition.

“The $176 million verdict made its point, and that is something these defendants are going to have to deal with. Based on his monetary situation, we would ask for a nominal or minimal amount of punitives, should you feel it necessary, as you more likely will, to deter or deal with the unconscious behavior," she said.

Representatives for either party did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Huey P. Cotton Jr. presided over the trial.

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