A judge has ordered the parties in a civil lawsuit brought by the family of two boys killed by convicted murderer Rebecca Grossman to try and resolve the case with the help of another bench officer prior to the scheduled spring trial.
Jurors in a previous Van Nuys Superior Court trial found Grossman guilty of two counts each of second-degree murder and vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit-and-run driving in the Sept. 29, 2020, deaths of Mark and Jacob Iskander, aged 11 and 8.
The plaintiffs in the civil suit are the boys’ parents, Karim and Nancy Iskander, and the boys’ brother Zachary.
On Tuesday, Judge Huey Cotton directed the parties to attend a mandatory settlement conference before Judge Wendy Wilcox on Feb. 19. The imprisoned Grossman must appear remotely and the judge said he was strongly suggesting that co-defendants Peter Grossman and Scott Erickson be at the conference in person, although they are also allowed to make virtual appearances.
Trial of the case is scheduled for April 13.
Peter Grossman is Grossman’s husband and Erickson is her former boyfriend. Rebecca Grossman and Erickson had cocktails and later the two raced each other in their vehicles along Triunfo Canyon Road until they reached a crosswalk and the children were struck, according to the suit filed in January 2021.
Grossman, 62, of Hidden Hills, tried to flee the scene and she likely would have been successful had her vehicle not automatically shut down due to it sensing the massive impact that had just occurred, the Iskander attorneys state in their court papers.
The philanthropist then lied to law enforcement about her speed and how much she had to drink, and contended she did not know why her airbag suddenly deployed despite her vehicle sustaining massive front-end damage, the Iskander attorneys further state.