CVN screenshot of plaintiff attorney Brian Panish delivering his opening statement
Van Nuys, CA - A California state court jury heard opening statements Friday in a $100 million wrongful death lawsuit blaming former MLB pitcher Scott Erickson and a prominent philanthropist for a 2020 car crash that killed two young siblings, and the full trial is being webcast and recorded gavel-to-gavel by Courtroom View Network.
Plaintiffs Nancy and Karim Iskander accuse Erickson and Grossman Burn Foundation co-founder Rebecca Grossman of racing each other while returning from drinks in 2020. Grossman’s vehicle struck the Iskanders' two children as they crossed the street in a crosswalk, leading to her conviction for second-degree murder and vehicular manslaughter.
The Iskanders' attorney, Brian Panish of Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP, urged the Los Angeles County jury to find both parties liable for the deaths of the two children. However attorneys for Erickson and Grossman each blamed the other party for the accident along with a supposed dangerous condition at the scene caused by poor lighting.
The full trial, expected to last roughly two months, is being webcast gavel-to-gavel live and on-demand by CVN. Sign up for a CVN account and get instant unlimited live and on-demand access to this trial along with hundreds more featuring many of the country’s top civil trial attorneys and a wide range of practice areas.
Panish described how Grossman and Erickson, her boyfriend at the time, left a restaurant in separate vehicles after an evening of drinks. He detailed how prosecutors accused Grossman of speeding at over 80 mph in a 45-mph zone before plowing into the Iskander family in the crosswalk. He insisted eyewitness testimony and accident reconstruction experts would prove Grossman and Erickson were racing each other at the time.
"Because Mr. Erickson is racing, and he’s in the first lane, he blocks off the boys ability to escape," Panish said. "And they are both hit at 73 miles an hour by Ms. Grossman. 73 miles an hour, which is the equivalent of taking a 4,800 pound car and dropping it from a 12-story building."
Prosecutors accused Grossman in her criminal trial of driving nearly a quarter of a mile after the collision before her engine stopped, but her attorney Ester Hold disputed that characterization during her opening statement.
CVN screenshot of defense attorney Ester Hold delivering her opening statement
"The evidence will show Ms. Grossman never saw the children in the crosswalk," Hold said, according to CVN’s webcast of the trial. "We think there are other factors involved, and there was a rush to judgement to immediately determine that the entire accident was caused by and the fault of Rebecca Grossman.”
Defense attorney Deborah Tropp, representing Erickson, urged the jury to find Grossman alone liable for the crash, acknowledging her client increased his speed as he neared the crosswalk but suggesting it was in an attempt to avoid the Iskander family.
"He made the decision to speed up a bit more—he knew he could clear the intersection safely and not harm the children,” she stated.
The trial is taking place before Judge Huey Cotton, and CVN’s gavel-to-gavel coverage will continue for the duration of the proceedings.
Email David Siegel at dsiegel@cvn.com
