Jury adds $22.2M punitive damages, total $199M judgment

A jury in Los Angeles has ordered Rebecca Grossman and Scott Erickson to pay an additional $22.17 million in punitive damages to the family of two young boys killed in a 2020 crash, bringing the total civil judgment against them to nearly $199 million. The decision on Wednesday concluded a lengthy wrongful death trial stemming from the September 2020 incident in Westlake Village.

Grossman, a 64-year-old socialite and co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation, was convicted in 2024 on charges including second-degree murder and is serving a sentence of 15 years to life in prison. Erickson, a 58-year-old former Major League Baseball pitcher, was charged only with misdemeanor reckless driving, a case resolved in 2022. The civil jury last week found both defendants liable for the deaths of Mark and Jacob Iskander, ages 11 and 8, awarding their parents and younger brother $176 million in compensatory damages. The jury determined Grossman acted with malice and oppression, and Erickson acted with malice, oppression, or fraud, triggering the punitive damages phase.

During closing arguments Tuesday, an attorney for the Iskander family, Brian Panish, urged jurors to award punitive damages...