Jury awards $176 million to family of boys killed by Grossman Play

A jury has awarded $176 million in damages to the family of two little boys who were mowed down and killed by a pair of racing high-performance sedans six years ago.

But that's just the start for Rebecca Grossman and Scott Erickson. Now comes the penalty phase of their trial — and the jury could really sock it to the defendants.

The jurors will now decide how much to take from the defendants as punishment — punitive damages for killing the two boys. The $176 million is compensatory damages, for the pain of the loss of brothers Mark and Jacob Iskander.

The jury also found that the defendants acted with malice or oppression, opening up punitive damages. This is separate, intended to punish wrongful conduct and deter similar behavior.

There are three defendants. Socialite Rebecca Grossman, who was drunk and who is serving two murder sentences. Her boyfriend at the time, Scott Erickson, who was racing with her and helped cause the crash, then lied to cover it up. And Grossman's husband, Dr. Peter Grossman, a plastic surgeon who is famous for reconstructing burn victims.

The husband owned the high-performance sports car that his wife was drunkenly playing around with. The Grossmans have been caught trying to hide ownership of their house and other monetary assets.

Grossman and Erickson were in an extramarital romantic relationship, had consumed alcohol and were driving much faster than the 45 mph speed limit when the crash occurred, according to witness testimony.

The city of Westlake Village, which built the crosswalk, was cleared of any negligence by the jury yesterday.