Rebecca Grossman is found GUILTY of killing two brothers, 8 and 11 - running them over after drinking margaritas at lunch with her lover

Murderess socialite Rebecca Grossman will appeal her conviction for murdering two young brothers, her lawyer announced.

Speaking shortly after Friday's bombshell verdict at Van Nuys Courthouse in LA, Tony Buzbee said the second-degree murder and manslaughter convictions were ‘unexpected -but we’ll appeal.'

His client has had her bail revoked and has been jailed until her sentencing April 10. As the emotionless killer was led away, Grossman's distraught plastic surgeon husband Dr Peter Grossman and their children Alexis and Nicholas burst into tears.

They looked distraught outside court afterwards. But Nancy and Karim Iskander - the parents of her victims Mark, 11, and Jacob, 8, were seen smiling and appeared visibly relieved. 

Rebecca Grossman is seen arriving at a Los Angeles court Friday, hours before she was convicted of murdering two young brothers by mowing them down with her Mercedes

Grossman's attorney Tony Buzbee, pictured, has announced plans to appeal her murder convictions 

Nancy Iskander had choice words for Grossman and Buzbee, saying: 'The prosecution only cared about the truth. 

'They were working against the most evil defense attorneys.'

Grossman's appeal announcement is the latest shameless attempt to shirk responsibility for the September 2020 killings of Mark Iskander, 11, and his eight year-old brother Jacob.

Grossman failed to stop after mowing them down. She denied killing them throughout the trial, with Buzbee trying to muddy the waters by suggesting her former Major League Baseball player lover Scott Erickson had instead struck the siblings.

That was seen as an attempt to exploit cops' failure to check his car for damage, which Grossman was chasing in her Mercedes when she struck the brothers at a Westlake crosswalk in September 2020, following a boozy lunch. Her car suffered damage consistent with striking the siblings. 

Jurors saw through Buzzbee's attempt to create doubt and Deputy District Attorney Ryan Gould praised them Friday, saying: 'I would like to thank the jury - we are very happy with the verdict... There was not a shred of evidence that Scott Erickson was involved.'

Grossman's husband Dr Peter Grossman and her children Alexis and Nicholas Grossman look shocked as they left court Friday, after she was convicted of murder and ordered to jail pending sentencing

Nancy and Karim Iskander, whose sons Grossman murdered, appeared delighted by the verdict - and slammed 'evil' Buzbee for the ordeal of the trial

Grossman will now almost certainly have to launch her appeal from prison, where she could spend the rest of her life, if she receives the maximum sentence.  

Grossman, 62, was found guilty of two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of vehicular manslaughter by an LA jury of nine men and three women Friday. 

They'd been sent out to deliberate her fate just a day earlier.  

During the six-week trial, the prosecution insisted that the California socialite  was speeding in her white Mercedes SUV – when she mowed down Mark, 11 and Jacob Iskander, 8, after sharing margaritas with her former MLB player lover, Scott Erickson. 

And on Friday the jury of nine men and three women at Van Nuys Court near Los Angeles agreed, convicting Grossman on murder, manslaughter and a hit and run resulting in death charge. 

After the verdicts, the dead boys’ mother, Nancy Iskander, said she and her husband Karim ‘have been waiting for this for three and a half years.

‘The prosecution only cared about the truth. The were working against the most evil defense attorneys.

‘Coming to the trial felt every day like the funerals of the boys'.

Earlier Friday the prosecution asked Judge Joseph Brandolino to jail Grossman after they accused her of leaking confidential information about her case to a TV reporter and trying to influence the jury that was deciding her fate. 

Grossman now faces 34 years behind bars for the September 2020 murders of Jacob Iskander, 8, and his 11 year-old brother Mark

Rebecca Grossman, 62, was found guilty over the September 29, 2020 crash that killed two young brothers

Grossman was charged with the murder of brothers Mark and Jacob Iskander, aged 11 and eight on September 29, 2020

Grossman's white Mercedes SUV is pictured moments after the crash

This was 'a direct violation' of a protective court order the judge made to exclude certain evidence from Grossman's six-week trial, said Deputy District Attorney Ryan Gould, adding that 'it was a deliberate attempt to influence the jury.'

The judge warned Grossman but decided against jailing her.

During summation of the case Gould's co-prosecutor Jamie Castro said: 'This was not a tragic accident, this was murder.

'Rebecca Grossman, after drinking alcohol and with Valium in her system, hit and killed these two precious children in a crosswalk.

Saying Grossman 'floored' her SUV to 81mph just before colliding with the boys, she added, 'She knew that this was deadly, she knew that this was reckless. She showed a complete disregard for human life.'

At the opposite end of the long table in front of Judge Brandolino lead defense attorney, Texan Tony Buzbee, maintained, as he had all trial, that the one to blame for the deaths of the Iskander boys was not Grossman but someone who wasn't even in court: ex baseball star Erickson.

'Where is Scott Erickson?' cowboy boot-wearing Buzbee asked jurors in his closing address Wednesday.

'If I was accused of being responsible for the deaths of two children, you would have to fight me to keep me from coming to this courthouse to clear my name.'

Erickson – who witnesses said was 'racing' Grossman in his black Mercedes SUV just before the fatal crash – was a no-show at the trial and, asked the lawyer, 'Why didn't the prosecution bring Scott Erickson here, when they had all the resources, the Sheriff's Department, even the FBI, to do so?'

Saying that the prosecution's case 'didn't make sense,' he added, 'Rebecca Grossman ain't guilty of anything….They are prosecuting the wrong person.'

But in the prosecution’s final rebuttal Thursday, Gould attacked Buzbee’s criticism of law enforcement and the DA for not tracking down Erickson and subpoenaing him to appear as a witness in the trial.

‘The defense says justice for all, but how about subpoenas for all,’ Gould told jurors before the judge sent them out at 10.10am to start deliberations. ‘The defense could also have subpoenaed Scott Erickson.

‘Why do you think they tried to make Scott Erickson the villain?' Gould asked. 'This is not the Scott Erickson trial. This is the Rebecca Grossman trial.’

Grossman – who dressed conservatively in cardigans or sweaters and pants or plain dresses throughout trial – had been calm and unemotional except for one tearful outburst aimed at prosecutors when they kept objecting to Buzbee's lines of questioning, and another when she sobbed into a handkerchief as graphic photos of the Iskander boys' fatal injuries were shown in court

But at breaks or the end of court days, she would often share a kiss with her husband, prominent plastic surgeon Peter Grossman and a hug with her daughter Alexis, 19, both of whom were present throughout the trial, along with a large contingent of other supporters.

On the other side of the courtroom during trial, the young victims' mother and father, Nancy and Karim Iskander, were there most days, Nancy frequently unable to control her tears and comforted by a group of friends and family.

Grossman blamed her former lover, ex-baseball star Scott Erickson, saying his car hit and killed the boys after they had been drinking margaritas at lunch. They are pictured together at a fundraising event in 2020

Grossman insisted that she was not impaired when the Iskander boys were killed at this crosswalk in Westlake Village 

Nancy Iskander was crossing the road with the brothers and her youngest son Zachary, 5, when they were hit. Nancy and her husband Karim are pictured leaving court on February 6

The Iskanders' lives were 'completely dismantled' by the 'wreckage left behind' by Grossman, said Castro, on the evening of the tragedy, September 29 2020.

Grossman had a margarita with friends that day, then another at the now-closed Westlake Village restaurant Julio's with Erickson – whom she was dating while she was estranged from her husband.

Mark and Jacob Iskander were killed in the horrific crash on September 29, 2020

The two left Julio's around 7pm – she in her white Mercedes SUV and he ahead in his black Mercedes SUV – to go to her nearby home to watch a presidential debate.

Witnesses reported seeing the two cars 'flying by' or in the 45mph speed limit on Triunfo Canyon Road. One of those witnesses saw a woman at the wheel of the white Mercedes and said, 'It seem to be jovial., like there was some sort of race going on.'

The black box of Grossman's car – which was just behind Erickson's – recorded her speed at 81mph when she tapped the brakes and 'plowed into the boys on the crosswalk at 73mph,' said Castro.

 'That was the last moment of the boys' lives.

'If she had been doing the speed limit the crash could have been avoided,' she added.

'After the collision, she did not stop – she continued driving' ….about a third of a mile down the road, with Mercedes' emergency accident system automatically kicking in to turn off the fuel pump and bring the vehicle to a stop….'

Castro said that while other people coming by stopped at the accident scene to try to help the fatally injured boys, Grossman 'did not come back to the horror she had caused. She didn't call 911. She did not get out of her car and go back to the scene of the crash.'

Grossman later told a hospital worker, 'If Mercedes had not turned off my car I would be in my garage right now.' Castro added

Nancy Iskander took the witness stand to give her own wrenching and tearful account of seeing the two vehicles barreling toward her, her youngest son Zachary, 5, and Mark and Jacob on the crosswalk. She grabbed Zachary, the closest and jumped for her life into the bike lane.

'I would have been killed by that black SUV but I acted fast and was able to save myself and Zach', said Nancy who still has nightmares about the black bumper of Erickson's car bearing down on her.

'I saw the white car pass exactly where Mark and Jacob were.'

Castro told the court Wednesday that Grossman had been warned by a traffic cop a few years earlier that 'speed kills' after he pulled her over gave her a ticket for driving at 93mph on the 101 freeway.

'And that's exactly what happened – she killed two young boys,' she said. 'And then she threatened him (the cop), saying I hope you never need treatment at the Grossman Burns Center,' referring to thee hospital her husband had founded.

Grossman was not charged with DUI since her blood alcohol level was measured at 0.08, per cent, the legal limit. But Castro suggested there was a 'drink missing' meaning she may have more than the two margaritas she admitted drinking.

The prosecution also insisted that some of the roadside sobriety tests she took showed she was 'impaired' at the time of the crash, by alcohol and Valium that also showed up in her blood.

Despite her affair with Erickson, Grossman's husband Dr. Peter Grossman was by her side every day of the trial. Her daughter Alexis, also a court regular, claimed she saw Erickson hiding behind a tree after the boys were killed

Prosecutors allege Grossman had been racing her baseball player lover Scott Erickson, 56, before the crash. Erickson won a World Series with the 1991 Minnesota Twins and went on to play for five other MLB teams

The Grossmans' teenage son Nicholas also turned up in court on a few days to support his mother

Grossman pleaded not guilty to  two counts of second degree murder in the 'hit-and-run' deaths of eight year-old Jacob and Mark Iskander

After the collision, she told an emergency operator her airbag had suddenly deployed in her face and that she didn't know if she'd hit anything, said Castro

'Either she's lying or she's impaired,' she went on. 'She knew what happened and she is trying to distance herself. She's in full self-preservation mode.'

Grossman and Erickson had been drinking margaritas at the now-shuttered Julio's restaurant

Castro challenged the defense's scenario that Erickson's black SUV hit both boys, knocking Mark up in the air and he landed on the hood of Grossman's Mercedes following close behind.

The damage to the hood was caused by the front of the vehicle being pushed in five inches by the force of the impact on Mark, she said which was the equivalent of the force of a vehicle impacting the ground after being dropped 12 stories.

'Erickson came close to hitting the two boys but evidence shows he did not,' said Castro. 'He was absolutely reckless but his recklessness does not relieve Mrs. Grossman of responsibility for the boys' deaths.

'There is not a shred of evidence that Scott Erickson hit the boys.'

Castro poured scorn on the shocking testimony of Grossman's teen daughter Alexis last Friday, in which she said that after the crash, she saw Erickson 'hiding behind a tree' watching her mother talking to police, and later he burst into her home smelling of booze and threatened to ruin her and her family if she revealed she'd seen him that night.

'Not one other person saw someone suspiciously hiding behind a tree,' she said. 'People would have noticed. Why wasn't such a suspicious person called in (to police)? Because it did not happen.

'Alexis Grossman is clearly a victim of her mother's manipulation.'

Rebecca Grossman's lead attorney Buzbee lashed out at the investigation into the deaths of the Iskander boys calling it 'terrible' and 'amateur hour' and cops sent to investigate the crash scene were ' the C team, not the A team' who took only 'eight blurry pictures' of evidence items at the site.

Mark (left) and Jacob (right)  Iskander, 11 and 8 respectively, were killed in the horrific crash on September 29, 2020

The Iskanders' lives were 'completely dismantled' by the 'wreckage left behind' by Grossman, said Castro, on the evening of the tragedy, September 29, 2020 

Karim and Nancy Iskander, the boys' parents, are shown at a court hearing in April 2022

He pointed out that police 'didn't figure out' that Erickson had two black Mercedes, one a 2007 and the other a 2016, both of which had the same licens plate – and that he had lied to cops about which one he was driving that night.

'Why did Scott Erickson hide? Why did he lie? Why did he make threats?' said Buzbee

'The prosecution chose to bring a double murder case and three years later, they can't tell you want happened. They failed miserably. None of it (the prosecutors' case) works because Erickson hit the kids first.

'Proving someone is guilty beyond reasonable doubt is hard to do with good evidence. It's impossible to do with this evidence. This is an accident, not a crime.'

Buzbee said that black box evidence provided by prosecution experts is 'unreliable' and that surveillance video shot just after the crash showed Grossman was only going at 52mph.

According to the defense, former MLB shortstop Royce Clayton told cops that Erickson was involved in the accident

He also said that the video showed Erickson was in his 2016 black Mercedes SUV, not the 2007 he later turned into police for inspection a week later.

So the 'car he was driving that night was never inspected for damage and it has now disappeared,' he said.

Pointing out that Grossman was not charged with DUI and was not over the legal limit, Buzbee told jurors that prosecutors) 'want you to be an ostrich, to put your head in the sand and ignore that she was not impaired'.

'They want you to crawl inside Mrs. Grossman's head and see if she was intentionally trying to kill someone, which is a farce.'

Buzbee said the sheriff's office investigating the accident didn't know of Erickson's involvement until his old baseball buddy Royce Clayton – with whom he'd been drinking earlier the day of the crash – 'ratted him out' to a law enforcement relative he has.

'Still, to this day, we haven't heard a peep out of Scott Erickson and we have never seen the front of his car.'

Buzbee accused deputies at the scene of 'dropping the ball', with crash evidence destroyed or being thrown in the trash.

And he said the officer who put Grossman through several roadside sobriety tests after the collision, 'screwed up 15 ways to Sunday.'

Of the prosecution's contention that Grossman tried to flee the scene, continuing for a third of a mile after the crash, Buzbee pointed out that she could have walked to her house a short distance away but she stayed in her car because the emergency dispatcher told her to.

She was 'bewildered' by the bags going off because she 'didn't know' she'd been in an accident, he added.

Buzbee scoffed at prosecutors' suggestion that Grossman may have had more to drink than she'd admitted to on the day of the accident saying, 'Now we hear for the first time that she had a phantom drink somewhere. They have no proof or evidence of that.'

And in answer to Castro's skepticism about Alexis Grossman's testimony about seeing Erickson hiding behind a tree, he said, 'They even went so far as to call Mrs. Grossman's daughter a liar.

'She was 16 years old and threatened by a 6ft 4in baseball player who said keep your mouth shut. And she did.'

Erickson was charged with misdemeanor reckless driving and his case was resolved in February 2022 with a judge ordering him to make a public service announcement for high school students about the importance of safe driving.