19 March 2024 , 11:10
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Prosecutors believe a socialite who killed two young brothers in a hit-and-run has been engaging in "illegal conduct" from jail as she's accused of using her husband and teen daughter to try and influence witnesses and jurors who convicted her of double murder.
Rebecca Grossman fatally struck Mark Iskander, 11, and his brother Jacob, eight on the evening of September 29, 2020, in Westlake Village, a city on the western edge of Los Angeles County. She was speeding behind a car driven by her then-lover Scott Erickson, a former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher, with evidence presented in court showing she clocked up speeds of 81 mph (130 kph).
The 62-year-old mother failed to stop after hitting the boys and was found guilty on all counts — two felony counts each of second-degree murder and gross vehicular manslaughter, and one felony count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death — and faces 34 years to life in prison. On Monday, Deputy District Attorney Ryan Gould and his colleague Jamie Castro filed a motion that detailed several jailhouse calls Grossman had with her daughter Alexis, 19, and husband Peter since her February 23 conviction.
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Rebecca Grossman fatally struck Mark Iskander, 11, and his brother Jacob, eight (FOX 11 Los Angeles/Youtube)The court documents suggest Grossman may have asked the pair to hunt down witnesses and jurors and try to sway Judge Joseph Brandolino to give her a new trial. She is also accused of asking her daughter to make public a deputy-worn body-camera video that had been sealed by the judge.
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According to Gould and Castro, at least two jurors reported three other members of the jury were contacted by Paul Stuckey, a private investigator. "This investigator did not properly identify himself, rather stating he was a 'private investigator for the family,' " prosecutors wrote in the motion.
The prosecutors said that the only possible way they could've found the jurors was if they had access to their personal information, which was sealed by Judge Brandolino. "The only ways in which the defence could have obtained this personal juror identification information was either by photographing the jury list that was presented to counsel during jury selection or copying the names down off this same list," prosecutors wrote. "The defence is actively attempting to engage in jury tampering ... and illegally in possession of jury personal identifying information."
It's also alleged that Grossman wrote a letter to Nancy and Karim Iskander, the parents of the boys Grossman is convicted of killing. The prosecutors have asked the judge to bar Grossman from contacting them again.
According to the LA Times, Gould and Castro now want Grossman barred from accessing phones or receiving visitors outside her legal team. They also want her mail checked.
Rebecca Grossman faces 34 years to life in prison (Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)"While in custody, the defendant immediately began using her phone privileges to engage in wholly improper conduct or potentially illegal conduct. These calls include admissions to violating the court protective order regarding the disclosure of evidence on the internet and to the press,” Gould and Castro said in the filing.
“These recorded phone calls also document numerous potential criminal conspiracies, such as requests to disclose more protected discovery, discussion of various attempts to interfere with witnesses and their testimony and attempts to influence his honour in regards to sentencing.”
All phone calls are recorded by the Twin Towers jail where Grossman resides awaiting sentencing. In a conversation on February 23, prosecutors believe Grossman suggested her daughter and husband should publish body-camera footage from a sheriff’s deputy at the scene in the aftermath of the crash.
Brothers Mark and Jacob Iskander were killed crossing the street in Westlake Village in 2020 (FOX 11 Los Angeles/Youtube)The convicted murderer told her daughter: “I want you to unblock the videos.” Alexis replies: “I will.” Grossman's husband Peter then adds: “Everything you want us to put out, honey, let us know. We’re going to put it all out.” Grossman replies: “I want you to put everything out.”
In another conversation, Grossman encourages her husband to have a man she identifies as Tom call the judge to see about getting a new trial. “If we can get witnesses to come forward and say they were told to say things, this can get us a new trial," she also told her daughter on February 24.
Grossman told Alexis to find and talk to a witness who was not called by the defence and who allegedly saw a black car - not a white one - hit the boys. “We have to get a real story out there about everything behind us and everything that wasn’t done and all the things that were hidden from the jury and how the media influenced the entire trial and how they were releasing all this stuff to the media, just to make me look like a monster and that we know that the jurors were influenced by it,” Grossman said.
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Her daughter replied: “I’m going to do everything for you, Mum. Everything. And so is Dad.”
Rebecca Grossman is accused of using her husband and daughter to try and influence witnesses and jurors who convicted her of double murder (Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)Grossman told her daughter: “I was so in shock to have all 12 jurors [convict]. These were the worst jurors. I knew they were bad jurors. That whole jury selection thing didn’t work for us at all. They weren’t on my side from the beginning. I just knew it.” She added: “Every single witness has a different story. How could there not [have] been reasonable doubt?”
In a conversation on February 25, Grossman brought up her then-lover Scott Erickson, whose Black Mercedes SUV she was following when she hit the bothers. “You should call Scott Erickson and tell him to get on a video and that he needs to confess,” she said.
Peter replied: “I know he needs to confess, but right now, I can’t even talk about the case. But that guy needs to [know] you’re in jail for him, and it drives me crazy.” Grossman told her husband: “Tell him to [make] a video and confess. I have a family.”
Grossman's main defence lawyer, Tony Buzbee, repeatedly blamed Erickson for the deaths, suggesting the retired baseball player's car hit Jacob, throwing him to a curb, and then hit Mark, launching him into the path of Grossman's Mercedes. The former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher denies contributing in any way to the tragedy.
Nancy Iskander testified that the black SUV didn't hit her sons but could have hit her and her five-year-old son, Zachary. She said she jumped out of the way and pulled Zachary to safety.
The mother didn't see Mark and Jacob being hit, but three witnesses testified that a white or light-coloured car hit the boys. Grossman is due to be sentenced on April 10, where she faces 34 years to life in prison.