LA jury awards $176M to family of brothers killed in 2020

A Los Angeles County jury has awarded $176 million to the family of two young brothers killed in a 2020 car crash, finding socialite Rebecca Grossman and former Major League Baseball pitcher Scott Erickson negligent and acting with malice in the incident. The verdict, delivered Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court in Van Nuys, concluded a civil wrongful death trial stemming from the deaths of Mark and Jacob Iskander, aged 11 and 8.

The tragedy occurred on September 29, 2020, in Westlake Village. The boys were crossing Triunfo Canyon Road with their mother, Nancy Iskander, and their younger brother, Zachary. According to witness testimony and expert analysis presented during the trial, Grossman’s Mercedes SUV struck the children at approximately 73 mph in a 45 mph zone. Erickson was driving a separate vehicle ahead of Grossman and narrowly missed the family in the crosswalk.

The jury determined that Grossman and Erickson acted “in concert with each other in the course of their activities leading to the fatal collision.” Testimony indicated the pair had consumed cocktails at a local cantina earlier that evening. The plaintiffs’ attorney argued they were engaged in a speed...