Rebecca Grossman isn’t the driver responsible for deaths of 2 young brothers, her attorney says

• January 27, 2024

By TERRI VERMEULEN KEITH

VAN NUYS — A co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation was speeding when she ran down two young brothers in a Westlake Village crosswalk, a prosecutor told jurors Friday, but the woman’s attorneys insisted she wasn’t the driver responsible for the deadly crash — which they contend occurred outside a crosswalk.

Rebecca Grossman, now 60, was charged in December 2020 with two felony counts each of murder and vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, along with one felony count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death, in connection with the Sept. 29, 2020, deaths of 11-year-old Mark Iskander and his 8-year-old brother, Jacob.

Deputy District Attorney Ryan Gould told jurors that Grossman was speeding in a white Mercedes-Benz SUV on Triunfo Canyon Road and struck the two boys as they were crossing the street with their mother in a marked crosswalk.

One of Grossman’s attorneys, Tony Buzbee, countered that the evidence would show that Grossman is “not guilty because she didn’t do anything and someone else did.”

The defense attorney acknowledged that no one saw a vehicle driven seconds ahead of Grossman by former Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson — described by the prosecutor as Grossman’s boyfriend — strike the children, but said the defense will prove that Erickson’s vehicle hit the children first, and the victims “hit Mrs. Grossman’s car” about three seconds after the initial collision.

Erickson was previously charged with misdemeanor reckless driving in a case that was separately filed, but that charge was dismissed after he completed a diversionary program.

In his opening statement, the prosecutor told jurors that a passenger in a car behind Grossman’s vehicle saw the white Mercedes-Benz strike Jacob.

“It is a well-marked crosswalk, and this is where our worlds collide,” Gould said, noting that Grossman and Erickson were in separate vehicles heading back to her house on the lake to watch the presidential debate that night.

The Rebecca Grossman case

Jury selection begins in murder trial of Grossman Burn Foundation co-founder over double-fatal crash
Murder charges stand against Grossman Burn Foundation co-founder in boys’ crosswalk deaths
Rebecca Grossman, co-founder of Grossman Burn Foundation, ordered to stand trial on murder charges
Attorney: Former Dodger pitcher Scott Erickson was not driving recklessly, not responsible for fatal Westlake Village crash
Rebecca Grossman, suspected in crash that killed 2 boys in Westlake Village, released on $2 million bail

“They didn’t have a chance,” the deputy district attorney said of the two boys.

The prosecutor alleged that Grossman was “flooring it to get herself up to 81 mph on a 45 mile-per-hour street” and driving just over 70 miles per hour at the time of impact. He said she wouldn’t have hit the boys if she had been driving at the speed limit.

“She continues to go past … and doesn’t stop for over a third of a mile away. … She never goes back to that crosswalk,” Gould said.

The prosecutor noted that blood testing done on Grossman after the crash determined she had alcohol and Valium in her system, but 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, he said.

The defense attorney countered the prosecution’s allegation that the defendant was speeding, saying that “Mrs. Grossman was going 52 miles per hour at best.” He contended that the data used by the prosecution’s expert from the vehicle’s so-called black box was not reliable.

Buzbee maintained that Grossman didn’t leave the scene and accused law enforcement of failing to adequately investigate the crash, saying it was “not the best investigation you’ve ever seen.”

Buzbee insisted that a separate vehicle — Erickson’s — went through the intersection 2 1/2 seconds before Grossman.

“We will show you that is the vehicle that hit the two children first,” Buzbee said, adding that “multiple eyewitnesses either heard or saw two impacts,” with some saying they occurred three seconds apart and others saying they happened five seconds apart.

Buzbee told jurors that debris collected at the scene proves that there were “at least two impacts, likely three,” but he said investigators rushed to judgment to accuse Grossman of killing the boys, when in reality, “the car in front of her actually hit the children.”

He said the evidence will show that the children were not in the crosswalk — which he said was improperly marked — when they were struck. He also denied contentions that Grossman left the scene, saying she was so close to her home that she could have gotten out of her car and walked home if she really intended to flee.

Buzbee alleged that Erickson stopped up the road, hid in the bushes and watched after the collision.

He said the defense would ask the jury to “use your courage and find Mrs. Grossman not guilty.”

Testimony is set to begin Monday in the Van Nuys courtroom, with the victims’ mother, Nancy, expected to testify that day.

Sheriff’s officials said after the crash that family members were crossing the three-way intersection — which does not have a stoplight — in the crosswalk when the mother heard a car speeding toward them and both parents reached out to protect two of their children, but the two boys were too far out in the intersection and were struck.

The older boy died at the scene, and his 8-year-old sibling died at a hospital.

Grossman allegedly continued driving after striking the boys, eventually stopping about a quarter-mile away from the scene when her car engine stopped running, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

In a conversation with an operator through a Mercedes-Benz service following the crash, Grossman said she didn’t know if she had hit anyone and that she was driving when her airbag exploded.

“I don’t know what I hit,” she said in the recording when a 911 operator was patched in and asked if she had hit a person.

Grossman is free on $2 million bond.

She was ordered to stand trial in May 2022 by Superior Court Judge Shellie Samuels. Superior Court Judge Joseph Brandolino, who is presiding over the case, subsequently denied a defense motion to dismiss the murder charges.

The defendant — who could face up to 34 years to life in prison if convicted as charged — is the wife of Dr. Peter Grossman, who is the director of the Grossman Burn Centers and son of the center’s late founder, A. Richard Grossman.

Rebecca and Peter Grossman were separated at the time of the crash, according to a statement by her husband posted on the website supporting her.

She is a co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation and a former publisher of Westlake Magazine.

Brandolino said at the start of the jury selection process that he expected the trial to last about six weeks.

​ Orange County Register 

Lifesize Lego builds on display, piles of bricks for building this weekend at OC fairgrounds

• January 27, 2024

Explore worlds built one brick at a time this weekend … one Lego brick at a time.

Brick Convention, a Lego fan event, is visiting the OC Fair & Event Center on Saturday and Sunday – its first time in California, said organizer Greyson Riley.

One of the features of the convention that has been held in communities around the country over the last year is the elaborate displays created by Lego builders, many of them local artists.

“They are going to see hours, if not years of work put together,” said Riley, who was himself wowed by a “massive” pirate ship scene one person arrived with on Friday as the displays were being set up. He was told the ship alone weighed more than 80 pounds.

“It is amazing for both the artist and the viewer,” he said of the creativity that will be on display. “There is something here for everyone. You don’t have to be a Lego fan to enjoy the event.”

But if you are a fan of the tiny bricks and the mini figures that bring them to life, he said vendors from around the country are participating this weekend to help people find vintage building kits and missing pieces.

There will also be professional Lego artists appearing and visitors of all ages can tap into their own creativity in designated building zones with large pits of bricks to work with.

If you go

When: There are multiple sessions, 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 3 to 6 p.m. on Jan. 27 and 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 3 to 6 p.m. on Jan. 28

Where: OC Fair & Event Center, Costa Mesa Building, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa

Cost: $15 admission online and $18 for admission at the door, $12 for parking

Information: brickconvention.com, ocfair.com

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​ Orange County Register 

Orange County scores and player stats for Friday, Jan. 26

• January 27, 2024

Support our high school sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribe now

Scores and stats from Orange County games on Friday, Jan. 26

Click here for details about sending your team’s scores and stats to the Register.

The deadline for submitting information is 10:45 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 p.m. Saturday.

FRIDAY’S SCORES

BOYS BASKETBALL

NIKE EXTRAVAGANZA XXIX

St. Mary’s (AZ) 93, Crean Lutheran 58

BOYS SOCCER

EMPIRE LEAGUE

Cypress 1, Kennedy 1

GARDEN GROVE LEAGUE

Santiag 1, La Quinta 0

Los Amigos 6, Loara 0

WAVE LEAGUE

Marina 3, Fountain Valley 2

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

Woodbridge 1, Irvine 0

PACIFIC HILLS LEAGUE

Portola 4, Beckman 1

SAN JOAQUIN LEAGUE

Western Christian 6, Capistrano Valley Christian 1

GIRLS SOCCER

EMPIRE LEAGUE

Cypress 4, Kennedy 1

GARDEN GROVE LEAGUE

Rancho Alamitos 3, Bolsa Grande 0

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

Beckman 2, Portola 0

SAN JOAQUiN LEAGUE

Fairmont Prep 1, Webb 1

GIRLS WATER POLO

NEWPORT INVITE

Mater Dei 19, Bishop’s 17 (OT)

San Marcos 14, Oaks Christian 12

Foothill 13, Laguna Beach 10

Newport Harbor 15, Carlsbad 1

Mater Dei 14, Oaks Christian 13

San Marcos 13, Bishop’s 11 (OT)

Foothill 18, Carlsbad 3

Newport Harbor 10, Laguna Beach 6

IRVINE SOCAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Orange Lutheran 20, M.L. King 0

Long Beach Wilson 19, Santa Margarita 9

JSerra 5, Dos Pueblos 3

Schurr 10. Harvard Westlake 9

Corona del Mar 21, Murrieta Valley 2

Los Alamitos 13, Edison 6

SAV TOURNAMENT

El Modena 11, Monrovia 4

​ Orange County Register 

Lions’ Jared Goff going home to face 49ers in NFC title game

• January 27, 2024

By LARRY LAGE AP Sports Writer

ALLEN PARK, Mich. — Jared Goff is California cool, staying easy breezy in good times and bad.

The veteran quarterback, who is from the San Francisco Bay Area, has led the Detroit Lions to the most success they’ve had in generations with two playoff victories in one postseason for the first time since winning the 1957 NFL title.

And yet, he has refused to get too emotionally high about that feat.

Goff also would not get too low – at least publicly – when the Lions won just three games in his debut season with them in 2021 and followed up the next season with a 1-6 start.

“He’s the captain of the ship,” Detroit center Frank Ragnow said Wednesday. “He’s as steady as it gets.”

The Lions will lean on Goff to stay the course for at least another week.

He is heading home to play the 49ers, about an hour from his hometown and alma mater, in the NFC championship game on Sunday.

Goff is from Novato, attended nearby Marin Catholic High and starred at Cal before the Rams drafted him No. 1 overall in 2016.

He helped the Rams reach the Super Bowl in his third season, they traded him away two years later and were eliminated by the castaway in a wild-card game earlier this month.

Outside of the Lions’ organization, Goff was viewed as a stopgap quarterback when he was acquired along with a pair of first-round draft picks and a third-round selection nearly three years ago for Matthew Stafford.

Goff has been much more, validating the faith Lions general manager Brad Holmes had in him when dealing a popular star for a player his former employer didn’t want.

He got in a groove during the 2022 season, lifting the team to eight wins over their final 10 games and stayed in it during much of Detroit’s breakthrough season in which the franchise won its first division title in three decades and ended an NFL record nine-game postseason losing streak that lasted 32 years.

Goff threw 383 consecutive passes without an interception, a mistake-free run that trailed just two in league history, before throwing a pick in September.

He finished the regular season ranked No. 2 in passing yards and fourth with 30 touchdown passes, including five that matched franchise and personal records in last month’s rout against Denver.

In postseason wins over the Rams and Tampa Bay, he has completed 74.3% of his passes for 564 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.

“He’s as accurate as any quarterback I’ve seen,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said.

That’s especially true when Goff can stay in the pocket instead of throwing on the run.

“The key is obviously getting pressure,” San Francisco defensive end Nick Bosa said. “He’s got a really good O-line, so it makes it tough. But if you cover up his first couple reads, and then you get after him and hit him a few times it changes things a little bit.”

A lot has changed for Goff since he grew up as a 49ers fan and wore No. 16 because his father, former Major League Baseball player Jerry Goff, picked Joe Montana’s number for him to wear.

Even though the stakes are much higher than previous visits to San Francisco in the regular season with the Rams, it’s tough to tell by looking at or listening to Goff.

“It’ll be fun to be able to play a big game there, but I’ve played there quite a few times and we’ll have some friends and family there,” he said with a shrug. ”It’ll be cool.”

And when Goff is asked about his cool and calm demeanor, he replies with an aw-shucks answer.

“Yeah, it does come quite naturally,” said Goff, who leads active NFC quarterbacks with five career playoff wins. “But I do think there’s a part of me that’s intentional about being consistent whether things are good or bad.”

​ Orange County Register 

Judge to rule soon on bail for Edin Enamorado’s ‘Justice 8’ street-vendor advocates

• January 27, 2024

A San Bernardino County Superior Court judge on Friday, Jan. 26, said he would rule soon on a prosecutor’s request to keep a group’s leader and six of his followers held without bail as they face accusations that their advocacy for street vendors went beyond exercising their First Amendment right to protest and extended into assault and other crimes.

Judge John Wilkerson in Victorville said he could rule before the next hearing, which he scheduled for Feb. 9. Eight people were arrested on Dec. 14 and have pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The delay disappointed an overflow crowd of some 40 supporters who say 36-year-old Upland resident Edin Alex Enamorado fights for marginalized and oppressed people who have no voice. Several supporters interviewed before the hearing said they believed his tactics did not amount to a crime.

“The seven people who are incarcerated, they stood up for people’s rights,” said Adam Espinoza, 60, who said he came down from San Francisco for the hearing and wore a T-shirt that read “Justice for the 8.”

Charges against the eight include making criminal threats, assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment and conspiracy. One of the eight is not being held because he was accused of less serious crimes. The crimes allegedly happened in San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties.

Sheriff Shannon Dicus has said the accused “use racism to threaten and intimidate their victims, causing them to get on their knees to beg for forgiveness while still assaulting them.”

Friday, Deputy District Attorney John Richardson told the judge, “No condition of release can reasonably protect the public.”

Enamorado’s attorney, Nicholas Rosenberg, spoke to supporters for about 20 minutes on the courthouse steps after the hearing in what was part informational speech and part pep rally. As most of the crowd filmed him with their phones, Rosenberg led them in a chant of “Get Alex Out.”

Rosenberg promised that Enamorado would show up to court if he were released on bail.

“I believe my client does not pose a risk to any of the victims, my client does not pose a risk to the members of the general public, and I believe my client will not fail to appear, because it is in his interest to get justice,” Rosenberg said.

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​ Orange County Register 

Santa Anita horse racing consensus picks for Saturday, January 27, 2024

• January 27, 2024

The consensus box of Santa Anita horse racing picks comes from handicappers Bob Mieszerski, Art Wilson, Terry Turrell and Eddie Wilson. Here are the picks for thoroughbred races on Saturday, January 27, 2024.

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​ Orange County Register 

$10 million settlement reached in clergy child sexual abuse case in Orange, LA counties

• January 27, 2024

The Diocese of Orange and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles have reached a combined $10 million settlement in a clergy child sex abuse case involving two of Orange County’s most notorious predators, attorneys with a high-profile sexual abuse law firm announced on Friday, Jan. 26.

The settlement — which includes $9.5 million from the Diocese of Orange and $500,000 from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles — heads off what was expected to be among the first to go to trial of a massive wave of lawsuits filed against Roman Catholic dioceses statewide by now-adult survivors who were given a three-year window under state law to file civil complaints regarding decades-old abuse.

It is believed to be the single largest settlement received by an individual against a religious organization, said attorney Morgan Stewart, whose Irvine-based firm — Manly, Stewart & Finaldi — represents more than 200 alleged clergy sexual abuse victims across the state.

“This is demonstrative of the acknowledgment of their failures,” Stewart said of the church leaders. “Our client wanted this resolved and wanted it resolved at a number that recognized their responsibility and harm.”

Asked for comment about the settlement, Diocese of Orange officials said their “foremost goal has been to address these cases and offer support and healing to all those affected…

“While we do not comment on settlement details, it is important to note that the allegations in this case date back more than 40 years and do not reflect the Diocese of Orange as it stands today nor capture our extensive efforts over the past two decades to ensure the safety of children and vulnerable adults and prevent future abuse,” Diocese of Orange Spokesman Jarryd Gonzales said. “The Diocese of Orange deeply regrets any past incidences of sexual abuse, and we remain unwavering in our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults and supporting those suffering.”

Officials with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles did not respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit centered on the actions of Father Eleuterio Ramos, who before his death admitted to sexually assaulting more than two dozen boys during a decades-long career that included stops in multiple parishes in Orange County, along with Father Siegfried Widera, who at the time of his death was one of the most wanted sex crime fugitives in North America.

The plaintiff in the lawsuit described being molested by Ramos beginning at the the age of 5 in 1979 or 1980 when he was a minor parishioner at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Santa Ana. He was later sexually abused by Widera around 1984 and 1985, when he was about 10 years old, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also brought to light new evidence that the victim’s attorneys described as bolstering their long-held contention that church leaders at the time knew about the sexual abuse of minors and actively covered it up.

The attorneys previously filed a sworn statement by a now-retired alcohol counselor who worked at a treatment center for clergy members in Massachusetts in the 1970s and 1980s. Father Ramos was admitted to the center after Diocese or Orange leaders referred him for treatment related to alcoholism and “sexual impulses related to sexual abuse of minors,” the counselor wrote in the statement.

The diocese leaders also overruled the counselor’s recommendation that Ramos not be placed back into the ministry, the counselor wrote in her statement. The counselor added that she learned it was common practice at the time for Bishops who referred priests to treatment for abuse of minors to then move those priests to other parishes or churches upon their return.

Victims’ attorneys say such actions by church leaders served to hide abusers like Ramos and kept them out of the view of law enforcement.

Diocese of Orange officials say they have since created a “comprehensive safe-environment system,” including requiring that clergy, employees and volunteers undergo fingerprinting, background checks and “recurring safe environment training.”

The combined impact of the new wave of sexual abuse lawsuits on the various dioceses is yet to be seen. Roughly 2,000 Southern California childhood sexual abuse cases involving the Catholic church filed during the three-year window — including around 200 related to the Diocese of Orange — are still working their way through the court system. Those involving the Diocese of Orange and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles have been consolidated and assigned to a Los Angeles judge.

A little less than two decades ago, a previous wave of similar lawsuits ended with settlements before jury trials, including a $100 million settlement by the Diocese of Orange covering 90 cases followed by a $660 million settlement by the Los Angeles Archdiocese involving 508 cases.

The new wave of lawsuits has already led several other dioceses in California to either file for bankruptcy or consider doing so, including the Diocese of Santa Rosa, the Diocese of Oakland and the San Francisco Archdiocese. Leaders of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the Diocese of Orange have given no indication that they are considering similar plans.

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​ Orange County Register 

California could spend billions to reduce a fraction of water use

• January 26, 2024

Hydrologists measure large amounts of water in acre-feet – an acre of water one-foot deep, or 326,000 gallons.

In an average year, 200 million acre-feet of water fall on California as rain or snow. The vast majority of it sinks into the ground or evaporates, but about a third of it finds its way into rivers. Half of that will eventually flow into the Pacific Ocean.

That leaves approximately 35-40 million acre-feet for human use, with three-quarters being applied to fields and orchards to support the state’s agricultural output, and the remaining quarter – 9-10 million acre-feet – being used for household, commercial and industrial purposes.

In other words, nearly 39 million Californians wind up using about 5% of the original precipitation to water their lawns, bathe themselves, operate toilets and cook their food.

That number is important because it is such a tiny amount, even though the state’s perennial household water conservation programs imply that taking fewer showers or reducing lawn watering will somehow solve the state’s water problems.

The ludicrous nature of those propagandistic appeals is quite evident in the state Water Resources Control Board’s new plan to force local water agencies into cutting household water use even more, no matter the multibillion-dollar cost, and with penalties if they fail to meet quotas.

The water board says the plan, which was authorized by the Legislature in 2018, would reduce household use by 440,000 acre-feet a year when fully implemented. That would be about 5% of current use, which is only about 5% of average precipitation – scarcely a drop in the bucket.

The plan is drawing some well-reasoned criticism from two independent observers, the Legislative Analyst Office, an arm of the Legislature, and the Public Policy Institute of California, the state’s premier think tank.

The LAO, in a report to the Legislature, said the plan “will create challenges for water suppliers in several key ways, in many cases without compelling justifications.”

In essence, the LAO said, local water agencies would have to jump through the state’s hoops by spending billions of dollars for a tiny reduction in overall water use that could have an adverse impact on low-income families.

The PPIC is similarly skeptical, summarizing the plan as “very high cost for little benefit.” PPIC fellows David Mitchell and Ellen Hanak also pointed out its effects on low-income communities and the difficulty it would impose on local governments’ programs to plant and maintain trees as a shield against hot summer weather.

California does indeed have a water supply problem, mostly because its political leaders for decades have failed to expand the state’s water infrastructure that had been built during the mid-20th century.

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Household use is not the problem. It cannot be because it is such a tiny part of the overall water picture and actually has declined, in relative terms, as the state’s population reached 40 million, more than twice what it was when the last major water works were constructed.

The major mismatch of demand and supply occurs in the two largest categories of water use, agriculture and the environment. Agricultural water agencies and environmental groups have been jousting for decades in the Legislature, in Congress, in courts and in regulatory agencies such as the water board over how much water farmers can draw and how much should remain in rivers to protect habitat for fish and other wildlife.

That’s the issue that must be resolved by reallocating existing supplies, building new storage and/or creating new supplies, such as desalination of seawater. Spending billions of dollars to save a few gallons of household water is just an expensive exercise in virtue-signaling that accomplishes virtually nothing.

CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters. For more stories by Dan Walters, go to Commentary.

​ Orange County Register