with us. I'm Mala Tellez. After Rebecca Grossman was found guilty of killing the Iskander brothers, their parents shared their reactions. We are, you know, finally can move on We have been waiting. For Mr. Grossman to apologize to, to take responsibility and she she just chose to fight to the end and it was heartbreaking to seee the I'm glad that this night, all their tricks, they couldn't try our system or the jurors. Well they're obviously relieved and emotional outside that court. Her courthouse. Rebecca Grossman was remanded into into custody immediately after that verdict was read. Fox 11 Susan Hirasuna. She was inside that courtroom to witness it all play out tonight. How emotional Susan emotional for both sides. Marla, when you consider that the Grossman family, including the two children, watched as their mother, Rebecca Grossman, was put into handcuffs as they whispered or even said out loud, I love you. I miss you. And she was led away in those handcuffs and the Grossman family, so bereft that they were put into a private room so they could have their moment privately. Meantime, on the other side of the courtroom, the Iskander's and all of their supporters, the Iskander's, Nancy and Kareem. When all of this was done, they went up to the deputy Das and they thanked them. They gave them a hug and they were ever so grateful. Take a listen to Nancy and Kareem and Ryan Gould, the deputy Da for the case. This trial, every day in court here felt like I am attending the funeral of the boys again. Day after day. That's how it felt. And seeing the defendant and seeing the defense attorneys, it just was that bad. We have been waiting for a closure. We have been waiting. Honestly we have been waiting. For Mrs. Grossman to appear. Tries to take responsibility and she she just chose to fight to the end. And it was heartbreaking to see the lawyers lies. And she had a specific warning from a CHP officer that speed kills just about a month, a little bit more than a month. She was texting about knowing that speed kills. And I think just doing 80 plus miles an hour on a residential street with your cell accelerator pedal at ostensibly 100. I mean that that's a murder . All right, so the Grossman's arrived at court and they didn't speak to anyone but you could see them walking in. However, when it was time for them to leave the courthouse, there was a there was a very tight group of people that protected the Grossman children and Mr. Grossman or rather doctor Grossman as they walked to the parking lot, I can tell you one other thing that the Da was speaking to, the fact that I asked him that to get to that guilty verdict of second degree murder is difficult. It is a very high bar because you need to get to implied malice, and that's why he told me when you have a situation where she knows that speed kills, and then she went ahead and sped over 80mph on that speed urban street. He says that that's why the jury came to that conclusion, reporting live in Van Nuys. I'm Susan Hirasuna, Alex. Marla. Yeah. Because that was a big question going into this today. I think a lot of people thought she would be guilty of something, but to get to that, for every single count is a real testament to Ryan Gould and the prosecution team and a real loss to these high powered attorneys for Rebecca Grossman, who, who, who put up a lot of different defense. But the jury basically saying, we don't buy any of it. Absolute And, you know, that's what the Iskandar's were saying. You you put things out there to try to muddy the waters. If you will. But when it comes down to it, and there was a lot of re-read testimony, Alex, there were about four passages that were reread and one that was reread twice, and that had to do with the eyewitnesses and Nancy Eskander herself. So it seemed to at least the deputy D.A. in the case that that really meant that they were relying on what the eyewitnesses had to say and not perhaps these other theories , that it was a different driver. And there's excluded video that might have shown that there were other drivers that could have been responsible, and that the prosecution had never looked into the possibility that it was someone other than Rebecca Grossman. It was a dramatic day, to say the least. And let me also say one more thing, because I think this is very important. Nancy wanted to tell the Grossman's how heartbroken she was for them. She does not want the children hurt, either. The Grossman children hurt either. And she was so thankful to what the conclusion was of this trial. But at the same time, she realizes that the Grossman family is hurting. Yeah. I mean, you think about also, you know how close the Van Nuys courtroom is to even the Grossman Burn Center and what a fall from grace for the Grossman family here. What do we know about the sentencing and what's next in this case? Sentencing is set for sometime in April. I believe, April 10th. And from what I understand before, as we were, you know, studying up and researching what this means, if she was guilty on all five counts, that could be 34 years to life. Alex Now, of course, she has the ability to appeal. She was remanded into custody on no bail. So there will be no possibility that she could get out prior to sentencing. Or the fact that even with the appeal. So she's got to go through the sentencing before they can move forward with an appeal. Okay. Well, Susan, you've been on this case the last couple of days. We appreciate your reporting. Thank you so much. Well that verdict reached on just the second day of deliberations, the jury taking about nine hours to mull over the evidence and come to that conclusion. Let's bring in criminal defense attorney RJ Manuelian. Mr. Manuelian, thank you so much for jumping on with us tonight under just on quick notice. Let me just say that. Were you surprised that the jury came back so quickly? No, I wasn't I'll from the inception of this case, I thought this may have been a second degree murder. Uh, murder, because of the following facts. The totality of the circumstances, the erratic speed, the fact that Miss Grossman actually admitted that she was trying to start her car back up after the accident, after the airbags went on. So she had an intent or an implied intent to leave? Um, she she acted callously after the fact as well. And additionally, she had Valium in her system. She had a little bit of alcohol in her system and the and the jury just found that to be a callous action for her not to inquire. Additionally, I don't think Tony Busby's defense of blaming it on Scott Erickson, the former Los Angeles defense. Uh, excuse me, uh uh, player was did. Him any good because, uh, Raphael Mejia, who was the deputy who testified at the uh, at the trial, basically said they did an investigation. They didn't find any black SUV paint or parts or any indication showing that there was another, uh, car involved, which was what Tony Busby's contention was. So when you put that out there to a jury , the jury wants to hear something that sticks, not just theories. They want to know more. And in fact, there was another officer that was there for, um, I think it was Mejia that said there was nobody hiding in the bushes like Tony Busby said. But Tony Busby made a contention that allegedly, uh, the Scott Erickson hit the kids 2.5 seconds before took off, somehow did a U-turn hit in the bushes and was watching the whole thing. It just a little ludicrous from my point of view, it sounds like a real bad Hail Mary pass as they say in football. And it didn't work. So So, you know, unfortunately, the jurors, it doesn't surprise me because of all of that, the totality of the circumstance just points to the fact that her callous behavior, combined with her intoxicants, combined with her statements. Yeah, it fits the bill. I'm not surprised at all that the jury came back so quickly. Yeah. I mean, the defense kept saying asking that question, where is Scott Erickson? And yet they never called him to the stand. So there you have it. We are expecting that the Grossman defense will appeal. What does that look like? They have 60 days to file the appeal. They'll give notice at the sentencing date, which I think is April 10th. They'll file notice of appeal most attorneys do, which is standard. And then after that, whether or not Busby's, um, law firm takes over the appeal or whether it gets transferred to some other law firm remains to be seen. Okay. Well, I know that you have a podcast. It's called the American Crime Podcast, and you will be talking more about this very case, the Rebecca Grossman trial and the verdict on that podcast. So our viewers can check that out and learn more about it
