On a stretch of Triunfo Canyon Road in Westlake Village, the marked crosswalk sits where a family’s ordinary walk turned into an emergency that never really ended. Rebecca Grossman’s case returned to the public view this week as a state appeals court panel upheld her conviction for the deaths of two brothers, Mark Iskander, 11, and Jacob Iskander, 8.
In court records and trial testimony, the scene is described in fragments: the mother hearing engines roaring, two sport utility vehicles barreling toward the crosswalk, parents reaching for children, and then the memory that followed—two boys crumpled on the roadway. The legal system has now affirmed what a jury decided two years ago: the verdict stands.
What did the appeals court decide in the Rebecca Grossman case?
On Tuesday, the California 2nd District Court of Appeal upheld the Feb. 23, 2024, conviction of Rebecca Grossman, who is serving 15 years to life in state prison. A jury convicted her of two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter, and one count of hit and run with fatality tied to the September 2020 crash that killed Mark and Jacob Iskander.
During the appellate argument, Grossman’s attorney, Lara Gressley, urged the panel to find that the law supported a conviction for manslaughter rather than second-degree murder. The argument focused on “implied malice, ” a standard the defense said prosecutors did not prove and that the trial judge did not clearly define for the jury. The appeals court panel upheld the conviction.
How did the crash unfold, based on testimony and trial evidence?
Nancy Iskander, the boys’ mother, testified that her older children were walking ahead of her and her youngest son in the marked crosswalk on Triunfo Canyon Road when she heard engines roaring. She described two sport utility vehicles coming fast, and she dived for safety, grabbing her 5-year-old son. Her next memory, she said, was of Jacob and Mark on the roadway.
Prosecutors presented evidence that Rebecca Grossman struck the boys while driving at more than 70 mph on a suburban street, including allegations that she was traveling as fast as 81 mph in a 45-mph zone seconds before impact. Data from the vehicle’s “black box” was presented as confirming she was traveling 73 mph at the time she hit the boys.
The trial also focused on what happened after the impact. Prosecutors said that even after airbags deployed, Grossman continued driving and eventually stopped about a quarter-mile away when the vehicle’s engine stopped running. Another account from evidence presented at trial described the vehicle traveling another half mile after striking the children, with the SUV stopping when power was cut off.
The defense disputed the prosecution’s narrative of fault. Grossman’s lead trial attorney, Tony Buzbee, blamed Scott Erickson, a former Dodgers player, arguing Erickson’s SUV struck the boys first and tossed them into Grossman’s path. Erickson was not called to testify in the case.
Why did prosecutors say the case supported second-degree murder?
At trial, prosecutors pursued a theory of implied malice, arguing that the driving was not merely negligent but showed a disregard for human life. In support, they presented evidence of Rebecca Grossman’s history of speeding, including a warning from a California Highway Patrol officer in 2013 after she was ticketed for going 93 mph on the 101 Freeway, with the officer warning her about deadly consequences.
At sentencing, prosecutors argued for the maximum sentence, pressing for two 15-year-to-life terms and four additional years. They described the force of the impact in stark terms, arguing she hit the boys with a force equivalent to her Mercedes SUV being dropped from a 12-story building.
The sentence imposed was 15 years to life. At sentencing, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Joseph Brandolino called the deaths an “unimaginable loss, ” and noted Grossman’s lack of a prior record and her philanthropic history. “She’s not a monster as the prosecution attempts to portray her, ” Judge Joseph Brandolino said in court.
What are the human stakes after the ruling?
The appeals decision does not return the Iskander family to the life they had before Sept. 29, 2020. It simply closes one legal door while leaving the emotional reality intact—an absence that does not argue back and cannot be appealed.
Nancy Iskander, speaking after the conviction was upheld, said the decision carried both relief and renewed grief. “I am definitely thankful and happy that the conviction was upheld, but I’ll be moving on in life, now that that’s behind me, knowing that Mark and Jacob are not coming back, ” Nancy Iskander said. “I always knew that they were not going to come back. It’s just another reminder that they were murdered. ”
She also described what survival looks like in the years that follow. “I’d like to encourage everyone who hears me today to turn their pain, their struggles in life, into something good, ” Nancy Iskander said. “Try to support somebody who is going through the same thing, maybe, or share their experience, how they overcome it every day. Some things you just have to overcome every day. ”
For Grossman, the ruling means the sentence continues. In court, she has maintained she did not see the children. “God knows that I never saw anybody, ” Rebecca Grossman said at sentencing. “I never saw anyone. I believe he knows the truth. ” She told the court she would have “driven into a brick wall” rather than strike the children.
What happens next in court?
The criminal appeal has now been decided by the California 2nd District Court of Appeal, and Rebecca Grossman will continue serving her sentence in state prison. Her legal team could potentially petition the State Supreme Court for review, a discretionary process that does not guarantee a hearing.
Separately, the Iskanders’ civil trial is scheduled to begin next month against Grossman and Scott Erickson for wrongful death.
Back at the crosswalk, the physical markings remain ordinary: paint, asphalt, and the daily rhythm of traffic. Yet the ruling ensures the case stays part of the road’s meaning, and part of the family’s calendar. In the months ahead, as another courtroom process begins, the name Rebecca Grossman will keep circling back to the same place—where a mother heard engines roaring, reached for her child, and discovered how quickly an evening can become a lifetime.
