Convicted killer Rebecca Grossman quietly reached a settlement that reduces her portion of the nearly $200 million civil judgment tied to the deaths of young brothers Mark and Jacob Iskander, according to court records obtained by the Daily Mail.
In a fresh development in the closely watched case, a judge has now determined that Grossman’s former lover, ex-MLB pitcher Scott Erickson, 58, may also lower his financial exposure because of that confidential agreement with the Iskander family.
The private deal, struck outside the view of jurors during last month’s eight-week civil trial, changes the final breakdown of liability after a jury awarded parents Nancy and Karim Iskander, along with surviving son Zachary — who narrowly avoided death or injury in the same crash — $176 million in compensatory damages and an additional $22.17 million in punitive damages.
A major portion of the compensatory award against both Grossman, 63, and Erickson, a World Series-winning former baseball player, included $69 million for Nancy and Zachary over claims of “serious emotional distress.”
But newly filed court documents show Grossman reached a confidential settlement with the Iskanders “on the eve of trial,” cutting Nancy and Zachary’s share of that $69 million emotional distress award to $14 million.
That arrangement initially appeared to leave Erickson responsible for the remaining $55 million. However, his attorney, Jeff Braun, returned to the Van Nuys, California, trial court last Friday and successfully argued that Erickson’s damages should be reduced by the same amount.
Even with the significant reduction, Grossman and Erickson remain jointly liable for the remaining $107 million in compensatory damages jurors awarded to the Iskander family for the wrongful deaths of Mark and Jacob.
The pair also remain responsible for the punitive damages assessed by the jury: $20 million against Grossman and $1.17 million against Erickson.
Scott Erickson and former lover Rebecca Grossman were ordered to pay a total of $199 million in damages to the Iskander family after a jury awarded $22 million in punitive damages against the two in court last month. This total has since been reduced, the Daily Mail can reveal
Erickson was ordered to pay compensatory damages in the wrongful death lawsuit brought by Nancy and Karim Iskander over the deaths of sons Mark, 11, and Jacob, 8, who were struck and killed while crossing a street in Westlake Village in September 2020
Erickson’s attorney argued that under California law, when a defendant in a civil case makes a settlement, a co-defendant is entitled to an ‘offset’ where his liability is reduced by the same settlement amount.
The attorney said that law was in place to ensure that plaintiffs – in this case the Iskanders – ‘will not be enriched unjustly by a double recovery.’
And he pleaded that since the jury found that Grossman and Erickson, who had been drinking and racing each other before the deadly crash, had ‘acted in concert’ and were ‘jointly liable for the same harm.’
In a weekend ruling, trial Judge Huey Cotton granted Erickson’s ‘offset’ motion and reduced the damages he owes to the Iskanders by $14 million.
Grossman’s speeding white Mercedes SUV collided with Mark, 11, and eight-year-old Jacob Iskander, fatally injuring them, at a pedestrian crossing in Westlake Village, near Los Angeles, in September 2020, after she and Erickson both drank margaritas at a local bar.
Grossman was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison after jurors at her February 2024 criminal trial convicted her of two counts each of second-degree murder and vehicular manslaughter, plus one of hit-and-run.
Erickson was only charged with misdemeanor reckless driving and that was dismissed after he made a public service announcement on the importance of safe driving.
But the 6ft 4in ex-athlete confessed on the witness stand during the civil trial that he lied to police about how much alcohol he had to drink before the deadly crash, and admitted that he was convicted of DUI in Nevada 12 years ago.
Grossman and Erickson attended a fundraising event in 2020 shortly before the accident. Erickson was charged with misdemeanor reckless driving and his criminal case was resolved in February 2022
Karim and Nancy Iskander were seeking nearly half a billion dollars in damages for the loss of their two boys
He also admitted that when police asked him to turn in the vehicle he was driving at the time of the crash, he produced the wrong car for inspection (at the time he owned two black Mercedes SUVs, illegally bearing the same license plate number).
Despite the lack of criminal charges against Erickson, the Iskanders named him as a defendant in their civil action, saying he bore equal responsibility with Grossman for the fatal crash.
Erickson was having a love affair with Rebecca when she was separated from her plastic surgeon husband, Dr Peter Grossman, who was also a defendant in the lawsuit as the owner of the Mercedes she was driving at the time of the crash.
