(NewsNation) — Jury selection is underway in the trial of a Los Angeles socialite charged with the deaths of two boys.
Prosecutors say Rebecca Grossman was speeding when her SUV hit and killed them as they walked with their mother and brother on a marked crosswalk in a residential area.
Grossman is an LA socialite married to a prominent surgeon and co-founder of the renowned Grossman Burn Center in LA, and the case has drawn a lot of publicity, potentially complicating efforts to select impartial jurors.
Jacob and Mark Iskander, 8 and 11, respectively, were crossing a residential street in September 2020 when they were struck and killed by a speeding SUV.
According to witnesses, Grossman was driving more than 80 miles per hour in her white Mercedes SUV, which had clear front-end damage.
Grossman has pleaded not guilty, and her defense team appears prepared to argue that there were unsafe conditions at the intersection where the accident occurred and that another vehicle may have hit the boys at the time.
Grossman was allegedly racing behind a black SUV driven by former Major League pitcher Scott Erickson, her ex-lover. The pair had left after a lengthy lunch, which included a considerable amount of alcohol.
Grossman’s lawyers are expected to argue the boys may have been hit by Erickson’s vehicle and not Grossman’s.
Nancy Iskander, the mother of the two boys, is also expected to testify. She has previously said she didn’t see the vehicle that killed her sons because she was busy shielding her five-year-old son Zachary from being hit and diving out of the way.
Nancy Iskander said in a pretrial hearing that she and Jacob were on inline skates, Mark was on his skateboard, and Zachary was on his scooter at the time of the accident, while her husband and daughter were jogging nearby.
She said the two SUVs were zigzagging and racing each other and didn’t stop before the intersection, even as the boys were hit. Mark died at the scene, and Jacob died later at the hospital. In the pretrial hearing, a sheriff’s deputy testified the impact threw Mark 254 feet.
Another deputy testified that Grossman was found a third of a mile away from the scene and reportedly said she didn’t know why her airbag had deployed.
Jurors are also expected to hear that Grossman was in a romantic relationship with Erickson and that she had previous speeding tickets for traveling at an extremely high rate of speed.
Grossman is facing multiple charges, including second-degree murder and vehicular homicide. Prosecutors have indicated evidence will show she had valium in her system that day and an intake of alcohol that impaired her driving. An on-site Breathalyzer reportedly showed an alcohol level just under California’s legal .08 limit.
Jurors have been given a questionnaire and instructed to return to the court for more questioning on Tuesday.