Peter Grossman admits that the wife was drinking and speeding before she hit the boys

A tense court battle erupted Monday in a critical phase of the wrongful-death trial against Rebecca Grossman and her ex-boyfriend, former Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson.

The founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation and a former major leaguer have been found guilty in the deaths of two young boys. The jury is now considering more than $176 million in fines issued.

On Monday, Grossman's husband, Dr. Peter Grossman, took the initiative to testify for the second day. The famous surgeon was questioned for hours by the lawyer for the family of Mark and Jacob Iskander, 11 and 8, who were beaten to death by Rebecca Grossman in 2020 at an intersection in Westlake Village.

Brian Panish asked him about the family's wealth and his wife's responsibility in the death of the boys, the surgeon then apologized, saying “the pain Iskanders are facing is great and there are no words. All I can say is I am very sorry.”

But Panish was having none of it.

He questioned Grossman about whether his wife had been drinking and running with Erickson the night he hit the boys with his Mercedes SUV at what experts testified was about 73 mph. Rebecca Grossman, 62, is serving 15 years to life in prison for murder.

Panish replied: “You never once said you were sorry before you came now after the judge awarded money for your wife, did you, sir?”

“That's not true,” replied the doctor.

Panish replied: “Do you agree that your wife killed two children? Do you agree? Yes or no?”

“I agree that Rebecca was wrongfully involved in the deaths of these children,” Grossman replied.

Panish then challenged him to “look that group straight in the eye and admit that your wife killed those two boys who were driving at a high speed under the influence of alcohol.”

During the eight-week wrongful-death trial, jurors heard that Grossman was speeding when he hit the boys while closely following an AMG Mercedes SUV driven by his then-boyfriend, Erickson, after they had been drinking at a nearby cantina.

The judge concluded that Rebecca Grossman and Erickson, 58, were both negligent and malicious and that the two “worked together in the course of their duties, which resulted in the fatal collision.” They awarded $176 million to the boys' parents, Nancy and Karim Iskander, and their surviving brother. Compensatory and emotional distress damages were split between Rebecca Grossman and Erickson.

On Monday, Panish asked the surgeon: “You don't apologize at all for your wife's drinking and driving?”

Grossman: “Sir, I apologize to the Iskanders for everything they've been through.”

But Grossman described the features of his wife driving drunk, speeding and hitting boys after going 82 mph in a 45 mph zone as wrong. Grossman, who was tested several hours after the collision, registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.08, the legal limit in California.

Panish asked the doctor if it would interfere with him testifying because his wife killed two children.

Grossman called that comment “very disrespectful.”

But Panish pushed again. “Would you tell the judge right now that you are completely sorry for your wife for speeding, drinking and killing the children? Yes or no?”

The judge instructed the surgeon to answer yes or no.

“Yes,” replied Grossman.

Panish interrupted the reception: “So you find out that he was driving drunk, killed children and tried to escape?” — a reference to Rebecca Grossman's car parked a third of a mile from the crash site because Mercedes' security system turned off the heavily damaged vehicle.

“That's not what you just said,” growled the doctor in an angry voice.

In addition to the two counts of murder, Rebecca Grossman was convicted of two counts of involuntary manslaughter in 2024 and one count of reckless driving resulting in death. The California Court of Appeals upheld his conviction, and he has appealed to the state Supreme Court. Although she and Peter Grossman were separated at the time, the car she was driving was hers.

According to witness testimony in the criminal and civil trial, Erickson and Grossman had been drinking at a Westlake Village restaurant and headed to Grossman's house the night of the accident. Mark and Jacob were with their mother and younger sibling at the intersection on Triunfo Canyon Road when they witnessed two cars speeding toward them. Erickson, during the trial, testified that he refrained from hitting the brothers, but Grossman did not.

Panish told the jury in Van Nuys that they needed to award punitive damages not only to punish Grossman and Erickson but also to send a message about their behavior. He asked if Erickson, a former World Series winner, and Grossman were hiding assets.

Rebecca Grossman and her daughter outside a courthouse in Van Nuys in 2024.

(Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

The penalty phase of the civil trial began Thursday, after jurors found that Grossman acted with cruelty and oppression and Erickson with cruelty, oppression or fraud.

On Monday, Panish, the second day, questioned Peter Grossman about a series of property transfers involving homes in Texas and Georgia and a connection to the couple's 14,000-square-foot Hidden Hills mansion. Panish played jail cell phone records that suggested they wanted to exchange clothes for their son and daughter and protect them from the Iskanders. He also questioned a $1-million loan from Peter Grossman's special-needs brother and other transfers, including about $200,000 to a lawyer friend.

Panish and Grossman often clashed during the doctor's testimony, and the judge repeatedly reminded him to answer only what he knew, not what he believed.

Asked if his wife acted inappropriately, the doctor said she was “negligent and caused the accidental death of at least one of those children.”

At one point, Peter Grossman said he did not remember the disparaging words he said about Nancy Iskander to his wife. Panish played a recording of a prison call between the couple. The doctor looked down as he was heard saying: “ You are full of s— .

The judge said he expects jurors to begin deliberating on the penalty phase on Tuesday.