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LOS ANGELES (CN) — Dr. Peter Grossman, a renowned Southern California plastic surgeon, was interrogated on the witness stand Friday about his family’s wealth, as his imprisoned wife and her former lover face punitive damages for the deaths of two young brothers in a hit-and-run crash six years ago.
Brian Panish, the attorney representing the family of Mark and Jacob Iskander, accused Grossman of evading questions and hedging his answers about both his wife’s liability for the 2020 fatal crash and their finances.
“You are on both sides on every question, aren’t you,” Panish told Grossman.
Jurors in Los Angeles County Superior Court 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.”
During his examination of Peter Grossman, Panish 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.
“I didn’t seek to hide the assets from the Iskander family,” Grossman told the jury.
On Wednesday, the jury found Rebecca Grossman’s and Erickson’s negligence caused the death of the children. Jurors also found they acted with malice, allowing the family to pursue punitive damages.
Rebecca Grossman, 62, is serving a sentence of 15 years to life after 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 Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the Minnesota Twins and other teams, 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.
He was also called to testify Friday and told the jury about the remorse he felt about what happened.
“There’s not day gone by that I’ve been sad or upset and I wished that I had done something different,” Erickson told the jurors.
Peter Grossman was aware of his wife’s relationship with Erickson. According to court filings, Rebecca Grossman split her time between the Hidden Hills mansion she shared with her husband and a Westlake Village home she shared with Erickson, located less than a mile from the crash site.
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 his testimony, Peter Grossman declined to characterize his wife’s conduct in the terms urged by Panish and challenged the attorney’s assertion that was traveling 73 mph in a 45-mph zone when she struck and killed the boys.
When Panish challenged him to provide evidence his wife wasn’t driving almost 30 miles over the speed limit, Grossman only suggested the data on the vehicle’s electronic data recorder, or black box, was corrupted.
“I agree that her conduct was negligent and and that the outcome was tragic,” he said. “I have difficulty with the term ‘reprehensible.’”
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