A district attorney’s investigator dropped a bombshell in the murder case against Rebecca Grossman on Thursday by revealing that her boyfriend Scott Erickson’s two black Mercedes SUVs have the same license plate number.
Grossman’s legal team has long alleged that the ex-professional baseball player, with whom she was allegedly racing when the Iskander boys were struck and killed, lied to police about which of those vehicles he was driving the night of the fatal accident.
And on Thursday, Los Angeles District Attorney Sergio Lopez told the jury that one of the SUVs, a 2007 Mercedes, had a legal Nevada license plate number LT35756.
The other – a 2016 Mercedes AMG – had an illegal fake license plate – often called a cold license plate – with the same condition and number, which is a crime, he said.
A district attorney’s investigator dropped a bombshell in the murder case against Rebecca Grossman (pictured Wednesday) on Thursday by revealing that her boyfriend Scott Erickson’s two black Mercedes SUVs have the same license plate
Grossman’s legal team has long alleged that the ex-professional baseball player (pictured in 2018), with whom she was allegedly racing when the Iskander boys were hit and killed, lied to police about which of those vehicles he was driving the night of the murder. fatal accident
Mark (left) and Jacob (right) Iskander, aged 11 and 8 respectively, died in the horrific crash on September 29, 2020
Lopez is a senior investigator with the District Attorney’s Auto Insurance Fraud Task Force. Yet it was the defense, not the prosecution, who called him to the witness stand Thursday.
He told the court that Deputy District Attorney Ryan Gould asked him to investigate whether Erickson had filed an insurance claim after the Iskander accident. Nothing has been filed, he said.
But when lead attorney Tony Buzbee asked which of the two vehicles Erickson was driving on September 29, 2020, the night of the accident, Lopez said he didn’t know.
“Were you asked to find out what vehicle he was driving?” the lawyer asked. “No,” Lopez responded, adding that he was only asked “if there were any insurance claims.”
With photos of the rear license plates of both the 2007 and 2016 black SUVs on display in court, Lopez said that when he checked Erickson’s car ownership, he discovered that “he was using the same license plate for two different vehicles.”
The wealthy socialite faces a maximum prison sentence of 34 years to life if convicted of the murders. She is also charged with two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit and run resulting in death.
Los Angeles investigator Sergio Lopez told the jury that one of the SUVs, a 2007 Mercedes, had a legal Nevada license plate number LT35756; the other – a 2016 Mercedes AMG – had an illegal fake license plate – often called a cold license plate – with the same condition and number, which is a crime, he said
In court Thursday, Grossman’s defense team tried to convince Judge Joseph Brandolino to allow them in court to recreate the two airbags deploying as they had done in Grossman’s Mercedes SUV (pictured above after the crash) at the moment the boys were hit.
Erickson, who was dating Grossman during a divorce from her husband, was reportedly “racing” with her as he drove his black SUV across the crosswalk (pictured) where the Iskanders were walking, seconds ahead of Grossman’s car
He found that the 2007 car had a legal registration in Nevada, but he couldn’t find a registration for the 2016 car, which meant the car had a so-called cold plate, which “some people use to avoid registration fees.”
Buzbee — who claims Erickson was driving his 2016 Mercedes the night of the fatal crash, and not the 2007 Mercedes he told police he was in — asked Lopez, “Where is Scott Erickson?” “I don’t know,” he replied.
“Have you tried to find his 2016 car?” Buzbee asked. “No,” Lopez said.
Deputy District Attorney Jamie Castro countered, saying that “this was already going on (Erickson was driving around with the fake license plate on his 2016 Mercedes) prior to the collision.” Lopez agreed.
And then she added, “So this has nothing to do with this collision?” “Right,” he replied.