Grossman Burn Foundation co-founder Rebecca Grossman was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison Monday for her conviction on second-degree murder and other charges stemming from a crash that killed two young boys in Westlake Village.
Prosecutors had asked Superior Court Judge Joseph Brandolino to sentence Grossman, who will turn 61 on Friday, to a longer term of 34 years to life in state prison for the September 2020 deaths of Mark and Jacob Iskander, ages 11 and 8. The young boys were in a marked crosswalk with their family in the community northwest of Los Angeles when they were struck by Grossman's white Mercedes-Benz SUV.
Defense attorneys were asking for a sentence of either probation or the lower state prison term of just over 12 years on the less serious vehicular manslaughter charges.
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Grossman, wearing a brown jumpsuit, shook her head and cried during the sentencing hearing as victim impact statements were delivered in court. A judge asked that the statements, usually delivered by family members, friends and others who knew the victims, remain short because there was a long list of speakers.
Speakers included Mark and Jacob's mother, uncle, grandmother, teachers, a pastor and neighbors who shared stories about the boys.
Prosecutors said Grossman will be eligible for parole in about nine years. Her attorneys have 60 days to appeal.
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Grossman was convicted Feb. 23 of two counts each of second-degree murder and vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit-and-run driving. The judge ordered her to be taken into custody minutes after the jury's verdict, rejecting a request by one of her trial attorneys to allow her to remain free on $2 million bond while awaiting sentencing.
In a typed letter to the judge, Grossman wrote, "I am not a murderer, and I ask you to recognize that true fact. My pain, my recognition of the pain the Iskanders suffer, and the pain I watch my family endure, are punishments that I already suffer and will for the rest of my life. Please consider this suffering when you consider what more punishment to impose on me in this case.
"As God is my witness, I did not see anyone or anything in the road. I swear to you, I would have driven my car into a tree to avoid hitting two little boys."
She wrote that the tragedy haunts were every day.
"I can only imagine the pain that (the boys' parents) Nancy and Karim Iskander feel minute by minute," she wrote. "I will carry my pain for the rest of my life."
Grossman wrote that she left roses at the scene of the crash.
She has maintained that she was not driving under the influence of alcohol, impaired or racing.
"From the very beginning, the facts have been distorted and misrepresented, turning the tragic accident into murder and me into a cold-blooded killer," she wrote in the letter to the judge. "The voices demanding vengeance and retribution are reacting to the tragic loss of Mark and Jacob, but they do not fairly describe me or who I am. I am not a murderer."
Deputy District Attorneys Ryan Gould, Jamie Castro and Habib Balian wrote in their sentencing memorandum that Grossman's actions since the night of the crash show a lack of remorse and "narcissistic superiority that leads to only one conclusion, that she is undeserving of any leniency."
"She has blamed the victims, arguing that they were out of the crosswalk, jetted out in front of her car, and that their mother was careless in walking with her children across the street when it was starting to get dark outside," prosecutors said in the memo.
They also said she blamed ex-boyfriend, former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson, prosecutors said. She claimed that he hit the children first, but prosecutors said there is no evidence to support that claim.
Prosecutors said Grossman was driving a high speeds, was impaired and had both alcohol and valium in her system. Evidence at trial suggested she was traveling 73 to 81 mph in a 45 mph seconds before the crash, prosecutors said.
Grossman did not return to the crash, which triggered the SUV's airbag, scene or offer medical aid to the boy, prosecutors said. They said the SUV's engine stopped about a quarter-mile from the intersection.
In their sentencing brief, her new defense attorneys James Spertus and Samuel Josephs countered that the crash was a terrible accident.
"Ms. Grossman is responsible for causing the accident, but the offense conduct does not warrant a life sentence or the type of lengthy prison term reserved for the most callous, heinous crimes, they wrote in the brief.
The defense attorneys wrote in their motion that the judge could impose probation with a suspended state prison sentence. The
At a hearing last Monday, the judge rejected a motion for a new trial that was filed by her current attorneys, who replaced the team of lawyers that represented her during the trial.
Jurors deliberated for about nine hours before rejecting her lead trial attorney Tony Buzbee's contention that Erickson, who was driving a black Mercedes-Benz SUV just ahead of Grossman's vehicle, struck the boys first.
The victims' mother, Nancy Iskander, was in tears after the first guilty verdict was announced in February. Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse shortly after the verdict, she said she bears no hatred for Grossman and said it was heartbreaking to see the defendant taken away in handcuffs.
She said she felt like she was attending her sons' funeral every day she came to court for the trial.
"It (the trial) wasn't easy, but it will bring me closure," she said.
