Rebecca Grossman Ordered To Sit For Deposition In Wrongful Death Suit

VAN NUYS, CA — Grossman Burn Foundation co-founder Rebecca Grossman — who was sentenced in 2024 to 15 years to life in prison for running down two young boys crossing a Westlake Village street with their family — will have to sit for a deposition in the family's civil suit against her next week, but for now she cannot be asked about the accident, a judge ruled Wednesday.

In an already concluded criminal case, jurors found Grossman guilty of two counts each of second-degree murder and vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit-and-run driving in the Sept. 29, 2020, deaths of Mark and Jacob Iskander, aged 11 and 8.

The Van Nuys Superior Court civil suit plaintiffs are the boys' parents, Karim and Nancy Iskander, and the boys' brother Zachary. Trial of the civil suit is scheduled for Jan. 5, 2026. In a ruling Wednesday, Judge Huey P. Cotton denied a motion by Grossman's attorneys to stay any deposition of their client until her appeals of her criminal case conviction are exhausted.

The judge said the Iskander lawyers can proceed with the imprisoned Grossman's deposition on Sept. 3, but they cannot question her at that time about the day of the fatal collision, the deadly accident itself or any prior encounters that Grossman had with law enforcement, including traffic citations.

However, the judge said the Iskander team can question Grossman about those topics in a second deposition prior to the trial. He further said he will hold a Dec. 1 hearing to find out if she intends to assert her 5th Amendment right to not answer any questions her attorneys believe may be incriminating while her appeals are still at issue.

Under a Jan. 3 order of the judge, the contents of next week's Grossman deposition will not be made public.

Grossman, 62, is named a defendant in the complaint filed in January 2021 along with her then-boyfriend — former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson. Grossman and Erickson had cocktails and later the two then raced each other in their vehicles raced along Triunfo Canyon Road until they reached a crosswalk and the children were struck.

Grossman tried to flee the scene and she likely would have been successful had her vehicle not automatically shut down due to it sensing the massive impact that had just occurred, the Iskander attorneys state in their court papers.

Grossman then lied to law enforcement about her speed and how much she had to drink, and then contended she did not know why her airbag suddenly deployed despite her vehicle sustaining massive front-end damage, the Iskander attorneys further state in their pleadings.

"The evidence to date demonstrates that Rebecca Grossman's conduct was "despicable," the Iskander family's attorneys contend in their court papers. "She was purposefully racing her Mercedes SUV at 81 mph in a 45 mph zone approaching a marked crosswalk with children in it."

City News Service