Overview
- Opening statements Friday in a Van Nuys courtroom launched the parents’ civil case seeking to hold Rebecca Grossman and Scott Erickson responsible for the 2020 crosswalk deaths of Mark and Jacob Iskander.
- Plaintiffs say both drivers were racing after drinking, citing Mercedes data and an animation that depict speeds near 70 to 80 mph in a 45 mph zone.
- The family’s attorney pointed to a 0.08% blood-alcohol test for Grossman about three hours after the crash and alleged Erickson fled, hid nearby, and swapped license plates.
- Grossman’s lawyer says she was neither impaired nor racing and faults a dark, curved crossing with no warning lights that, she argues, left little time to react.
- Erickson’s attorney says he was driving about 50 to 55 mph, accelerated to clear the crosswalk without hitting anyone, and will testify as the case proceeds, while Grossman serves 15 years to life after her murder convictions were upheld in March.