Socialist Rebecca Grossman was sentenced Monday to 15 years to life in prison for the 2020 deaths. two young brothers.
Grossman, co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation, He was found guilty by a Los Angeles jury in February, two counts each of second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter and one count of hit-and-run driving for 2020 accident who killed 11-year-old Mark Iskander and his 8-year-old brother Jacob. The boys were struck while walking with their family in a crosswalk in Westlake Village.
Superior Court Judge Joseph Brandolino rejected a prosecution request that Grossman be sentenced to 34 years to life in prison, saying such a long sentence was “simply not warranted here.”
Grossman, who turns 61 on Friday, took the stand at her sentencing hearing and told the family how sorry she was, and insisted she never saw the boys in the street the night of the accident.
“God knows I’ve never seen anyone,” she said. “I’ve never seen anyone. I think he knows the truth.”
Prosecutors had requested 34 years to life in prison, writing that she “very much deserved” the maximum sentence for September 1. 29, 2020, death of Mark and Jacob.
In their sentencing memorandum, assistant prosecutors Ryan Gould, Jamie Castro and Habib Balian wrote that the defendant’s actions since the night of the accident “demonstrate a complete lack of remorse and a narcissistic superiority that does not lead to to only one conclusion, namely that she deserves no punishment.” clemency.”
Last week, Grossman’s new defense attorneys, James Spertus and Samuel Josephs, countered that “there was a terrible accident, and Ms. Grossman is responsible for the accident, but criminal conduct does not warrant a life sentence or the type of long prison term reserved.” for the most heinous and heinous crimes.
At a June 3 hearing, the judge denied a motion for a new trial filed by Spertus and Josephs, who replaced the team of lawyers that represented Grossman during the trial.
RELATED: LA County Judge Denies Rebecca Grossman’s Request for New Murder Trial
Grossman’s attorneys asked for a probation sentence or prison term of just over 12 years for the manslaughter charges.
Judge Brandolino called the children’s deaths an “unimaginable loss” and cited Grossman’s lack of criminal record and philanthropic activities.
While acknowledging that the defendant engaged in “incredibly selfish behavior” after the accident, the judge added: “She is not a monster like the prosecution is trying to portray her here.”
Grossman sent a letter to the judge saying: “I am not a murderer and I ask you to recognize this as a true fact.” My pain, my recognition of the pain the Iskanders suffer and the pain I watch my family endure are punishments that. I am already suffering and I will suffer for the rest of my life. Please consider this suffering when considering what additional punishment to impose on me in this case.
During sentencing hours Monday, Grossman could be seen crying as people spoke during the hearing. She said her lawyers advised her not to contact the boys’ family because it would amount to “witness tampering.”
She added that she would have been “slammed into a brick wall” rather than hitting two children. She said the boys’ deaths were something she would carry with her “until my last breath.”
The boys’ mother, Nancy Iskander, said during the hearing that she disputed Grossman’s assertion that his attorneys advised him not to try to speak to the victims’ parents. She also said she saw Grossman outside the hospital emergency room that night.
“She looked me in the eyes!” » Iskander said, his voice rising. “You looked me in the eyes. You knew they were going to die.”
During Grossman’s six-week trial, defense attorneys attempted to blame Scott Erickson, Grossman’s then-boyfriend and former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher, for the fatal crash, saying his Mercedes SUV -Black Benz had hit the two boys first.
Prosecutors said the boys were crossing the street with their family in a marked crosswalk when they were struck by Grossman’s vehicle. Gould, the assistant prosecutor, told jurors in his closing argument that debris from the crash matched Grossman’s vehicle.
He told jurors there was “not a shred of evidence” to support the defense’s claim that the black SUV hit the children first and called it a “ridiculous theory.”
Prosecutors say Grossman was driving up to 81 mph, nearly twice the legal speed limit, just seconds before the crash. Data from her car showed she was going about 75 mph at the time of the crash, according to the prosecutor’s office.
In the typewritten letter that Grossman wrote to the judge before Monday’s hearing, she said she wrote a letter and left roses at the scene of the accident and that she “relived the shocking split second of the accident over and over in my head a million times.” ” ” But she maintained that she “was not driving under the influence of alcohol or while impaired, and I was not racing.”