Rebecca Grossman trial: Defense expert says Grossman not impaired at the time of the crash
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Deputy Rafael Mejia told the jury that he responded to the scene shortly after the Sept. 29, 2020, collision that left 11-year-old Mark Iskander and his 8-year-old brother Jacob dead, and said he was informed to look for a white vehicle with front-end damage.
LOS ANGELES - Witness testimony is expected to continue Thursday in the trial of Rebecca Grossman, who is charged with two counts of murder and vehicular manslaughter in the deaths of two brothers in Westlake Village in 2020.
A retired Houston police sergeant-turned-consultant Wednesday criticized the investigation done by a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy who administered a series of field sobriety tests to Grossman after a crash in Westlake Village that left two young brothers dead.
Donald Egdorf, an expert called by the defense during the second day of its phase of the case, told jurors that he believed the majority of the evidence points to Grossman being "not intoxicated or not impaired" after the Sept. 29, 2020, crash.
"It's your conclusion she was not impaired?" one of Grossman's attorneys, Mark Thiessen, asked the former police sergeant.
"Correct," Egdorf responded.
Grossman is charged with two counts each of murder and vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one felony count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death in connection with the crash that left 11-year-old Mark Iskander and his 8-year-old brother, Jacob, dead.
The prosecution alleges that Grossman was speeding at the time she hit the boys, with Deputy District Attorney Ryan Gould telling jurors that Grossman was "flooring it" to get herself up to 81 mph on a 45-mph street and driving just over 70 mph at the time of impact. The older boy died at the scene and his 8-year-old sibling died at a hospital.
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Grossman's attorneys insisted she was not the driver responsible for the deadly crash, which they contend occurred outside a crosswalk. Lead defense attorney Tony Buzbee -- who contends that Grossman was driving 52 mph "at best" -- pointed the blame at former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson, whom he alleges was driving a black Mercedes SUV just ahead of Grossman's white Mercedes-Benz SUV.
Erickson was described by the prosecutor as Grossman's boyfriend at the time.
Of the series of field sobriety tests that Deputy Michael Kelley performed on Grossman, Egdorf said, "I can say I don't think he conducted a proper investigation."
The defense witness cited "confusing" and improper instructions given by the deputy on some of the tests, saying he didn't follow any of the standardized procedures for one of the tests. He said each step has to be followed for the tests to be validated, explaining that a manual indicates that the tests must be performed as described.
The retired police sergeant said it also would have been prudent for deputies to move Grossman away from the scene, saying that "sometimes these scenes tend to be very chaotic."
The prosecutor told jurors during his opening statement that blood testing done on Grossman after the crash determined she had alcohol and Valium in her system, but that she is not charged with driving under the influence. Jurors don't need to find her guilty of that in order to convict her of the charges, Gould said.
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An independent consultant in toxicology and chemistry told jurors Wednesday that Valium shouldn't even be considered as a potential impairment involving Grossman, and said she was 100% certain that Grossman was under the legal limit for driving under the influence of alcohol at the time she was driving.
"Do you see anything illegal in this case?" Thiessen asked.
"No," the defense witness, Amanda Culbertson, responded.
In testimony last month during the prosecution's portion of the case, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Rafael Mejia told jurors that he smelled alcohol coming from Grossman, and contacted a unit to perform a DUI investigation.
Mejia said he found Grossman about three-tenths of a mile away standing outside her white Mercedes-Benz SUV, which had front-end damage.
"She told me that her vehicle was disabled by Mercedes-Benz," Mejia told jurors, saying that the airbags had gone off and that Grossman told him that she had hit something but she didn't know what she struck.
Of his interaction with Grossman, the deputy said, "She kept telling me to call her husband. ... Her husband could help those kids."
Under questioning by Castro, the sheriff's deputy said he didn't find any debris consistent with a black SUV or any kind of black vehicle.
"We didn't see any indicators there was another vehicle," Mejia said, indicating that the debris at the scene indicated a white vehicle had been involved.
The deputy said a Mercedes-Benz emblem was found among the debris at the scene of the collision, adding later on cross-examination that another Mercedes-Benz emblem was discovered. He noted that the auto chain has multiple emblems on their vehicles.
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The deputy said he had considered the possibility that more than one vehicle was involved in the collision with the boys, but ruled it out, saying that all of the debris was "consistent with a white vehicle." He said he believed the crash was caused by the vehicle "traveling at an unsafe speed," and added that he stands by that conclusion.
Grossman's husband, Dr. Peter Grossman, was called Tuesday as the defense's first witness.
He said he learned from their daughter about the deadly crash, telling jurors that his wife was "almost inconsolable, crying, trembling, incredibly emotional" when he picked her up at a jail in Lynwood about 30 hours after the crash.
He said he subsequently took photos of bruising and contusions to her body the following morning when she complained of soreness and pain.
Under cross-examination by Deputy District Attorney Jamie Castro, the woman's husband said he had been in a vehicle "hundreds of times" while she was driving.
"I don't have a recollection of that," he said, when the prosecutor asked if his wife was "somebody you knew to drive over the speed limit."
At a hearing outside the jury's presence, prosecutors indicated that Rebecca Grossman had received four speeding tickets over a period of about two decades. But jurors did not hear about the tickets during questioning of Grossman's husband.
The doctor described his wife -- whom he married in 2000 -- as "the engine" that makes the Grossman Burn Foundation work, but said the two had begun dating others after deciding to separate within their own home.
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He testified that he had never met Erickson but knew that his wife had decided to date him, saying that he had seen Erickson's vehicle -- which he described as a newer model black Mercedes-Benz AMG.
He said under cross-examination that he knew his wife and Erickson had spoken after the collision, but said he wasn't aware when asked if the two had maintained their romantic relationship after the crash.
The doctor acknowledged that he maintains a good relationship with his wife despite their separation and has been in court every day during the trial.
Testimony is set to continue Thursday.
Grossman is free on $2 million bond. She could face up to 34 years to life in state prison if convicted as charged.