Rebecca Grossman's second-degree murder conviction upheld

The second-degree murder conviction for Rebecca Grossman, co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation, was upheld on Tuesday by a state appeals court panel.

Grossman's attorney had tried to convince the court panel that the socialite should have been convicted of manslaughter, rather than second-degree murder, for the 2020 deaths of two young brothers as they were walking with their family in a Westlake Village marked crosswalk.   

A Los Angeles jury convicted the now 62-year-old of two counts each of second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter and one count of hit-and-run driving for the crash that killed 11-year-old Mark Iskander and his brother, 8-year-old Jacob. Grossman, the wife of renowned plastic surgeon Peter Grossman, was sentenced to 15 years to life last year for their deaths. 

Jurors could have considered the lesser charge of vehicular manslaughter with ordinary negligence if they chose to acquit her of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.  

Prosecutors said that Grossman and her then-boyfriend, former Dodger pitcher Scott Erickson, had been out for drinks and were heading toward her home in separate vehicles when her white Mercedes-Benz SUV struck the boys as they walked with their parents.

Data from her car showed that she was driving at about 73 mph through the residential neighborhood at the time of the crash, according to the district attorney's office. 

Prosecutors said Grossman continued driving after hitting the boys, eventually stopping about a quarter-mile away from the scene when her vehicle automatically shut off. The older boy died at the scene, and his 8-year-old sibling died at a hospital.  

Grossman's lead attorney had told jurors that Grossman was traveling at 54 mph "at best" and didn't know why her airbags had deployed. He said the vehicle rolled to a stop after the collision, and disputed the prosecution's contention that she had fled the scene. 

The Iskanders are suing the Grossmans and Rebecca's former boyfriend, Scott Erickson, claiming wrongful death.