On the same night two young boys were killed in a Westlake crosswalk, Rebecca Grossman had a cocktail.
Court documents show that the L.A. socialite also had Valium in her system. That drug had an “additive” effect on the alcohol, impairing her judgment, and she later barreled into the two children, an expert witness and prosecutors maintained Monday at her murder trial.
People who “have one beer plus Valium, that may feel like five beers,” the Los Angeles district attorney’s drug recognition expert, Det. Michael Takacs, told jurors Monday.
Defense attorney Tony Buzbee immediately objected, noting that the amount of Valium was “unknown.” He says the amount was minuscule.
Grossman, 60, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder , two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death. Prosecutors say after having cocktails with her then-lover, former Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson, Grossman went on to speed dangerously and crashed into the boys as they crossed Triunfo Canyon Road behind their mother. Prosecutors have told jurors she drove as fast as 81 mph before hitting Mark and Jacob Iskander, 11 and 8, on Sept. 29, 2020.