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

Grossman Burn Basis co-founder Rebecca Grossman was sentenced to fifteen years to life in jail Monday for her conviction on second-degree homicide and different expenses stemming from a crash that killed two younger boys in Westlake Village.

Prosecutors had requested Superior Courtroom Decide Joseph Brandolino to condemn Grossman, who will flip 61 on Friday, to a long term of 34 years to life in state jail for the September 2020 deaths of Mark and Jacob Iskander, ages 11 and eight. The younger boys had been in a marked crosswalk with their household in the neighborhood northwest of Los Angeles once they had been struck by Grossman’s white Mercedes-Benz SUV.

Protection attorneys had been asking for a sentence of both probation or the decrease state jail time period of simply over 12 years on the much less critical vehicular manslaughter expenses.

Grossman, carrying a brown jumpsuit, shook her head and cried in the course of the sentencing listening to as sufferer influence statements had been delivered in court docket. A decide requested that the statements, normally delivered by members of the family, pals and others who knew the victims, stay quick as a result of there was a protracted record of audio system.

Audio system included Mark and Jacob’s mom, uncle, grandmother, lecturers, a pastor and neighbors who shared tales concerning the boys.

Prosecutors stated Grossman will probably be eligible for parole in about 9 years. Her attorneys have 60 days to attraction.

Grossman was convicted Feb. 23 of two counts every of second-degree homicide and vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one depend of hit-and-run driving. The decide ordered her to be taken into custody minutes after the jury’s verdict, rejecting a request by certainly one of her trial attorneys to permit her to stay free on $2 million bond whereas awaiting sentencing.

In a typed letter to the decide, Grossman wrote, “I’m not a assassin, and I ask you to acknowledge that true truth. My ache, my recognition of the ache the Iskanders endure, and the ache I watch my household endure, are punishments that I already endure and can for the remainder of my life. Please think about this struggling when you think about what extra punishment to impose on me on this case.

“As God is my witness, I didn’t see anybody or something within the street. I swear to you, I might have pushed my automotive right into a tree to keep away from hitting two little boys.”

She wrote that the tragedy haunts had been day by day.

The mother and father of Mark and Jacob Iskander, who had been fatally hit by a automotive Rebecca Grossman drove, stated they had been stunned two prosecutors on the case had been eliminated. The I-Staff’s Eric Leonard experiences. 

“I can solely think about the ache that (the boys’ mother and father) Nancy and Karim Iskander really feel minute by minute,” she wrote. “I’ll carry my ache for the remainder of my life.”

Grossman wrote that she left roses on the scene of the crash.

She has maintained that she was not driving drunk, impaired or racing.

“From the very starting, the information have been distorted and misrepresented, turning the tragic accident into homicide and me right into a cold-blooded killer,” she wrote within the letter to the decide. “The voices demanding vengeance and retribution are reacting to the tragic lack of Mark and Jacob, however they don’t pretty describe me or who I’m. I’m not a assassin.”

Deputy District Attorneys Ryan Gould, Jamie Castro and Habib Balian wrote of their sentencing memorandum that Grossman’s actions because the evening of the crash present an absence of regret and “narcissistic superiority that results in just one conclusion, that she is undeserving of any leniency.”

“She has blamed the victims, arguing that they had been out of the crosswalk, jetted out in entrance of her automotive, and that their mom was careless in strolling along with her kids throughout the road when it was beginning to get darkish exterior,” prosecutors stated within the memo.

A memorial was held to honor the lives of two younger brothers who had been killed by Rebecca Grossman in a hit-and-run crash. Bailey Miller experiences for the NBC4 Information on Feb. 25, 2024.

Additionally they stated she blamed ex-boyfriend, former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson, prosecutors stated. She claimed that he hit the kids first, however prosecutors stated there is no such thing as a proof to assist that declare.

Prosecutors stated Grossman was driving a excessive speeds, was impaired and had each alcohol and valium in her system. Proof at trial urged she was touring 73 to 81 mph in a forty five mph seconds earlier than the crash, prosecutors stated.

Grossman didn’t return to the crash, which triggered the SUV’s airbag, scene or supply medical support to the boy, prosecutors stated. They stated the SUV’s engine stopped a few quarter-mile from the intersection.

Of their sentencing temporary, her new protection attorneys James Spertus and Samuel Josephs countered that the crash was a horrible accident.

“Ms. Grossman is answerable for inflicting the accident, however the offense conduct doesn’t warrant a life sentence or the kind of prolonged jail time period reserved for probably the most callous, heinous crimes, they wrote within the temporary.

The protection attorneys wrote of their movement that the decide might impose probation with a suspended state jail sentence. The

At a listening to final Monday, the decide rejected a movement for a brand new trial that was filed by her present attorneys, who changed the staff of attorneys that represented her in the course of the trial.

Jurors deliberated for about 9 hours earlier than rejecting her lead trial lawyer Tony Buzbee’s rivalry that Erickson, who was driving a black Mercedes-Benz SUV simply forward of Grossman’s automobile, struck the boys first.

The victims’ mom, Nancy Iskander, was in tears after the primary responsible verdict was introduced in February. Talking to reporters exterior the courthouse shortly after the decision, she stated she bears no hatred for Grossman and stated it was heartbreaking to see the defendant taken away in handcuffs.

She stated she felt like she was attending her sons’ funeral day by day she got here to court docket for the trial.

“It (the trial) wasn’t straightforward, however it should carry me closure,” she stated.