Rebecca Grossman case may be impacted by conflict of interest at DA's office

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A new legal twist in the criminal case involving Rebecca Grossman, the woman convicted of running over two boys in Westlake Village, has the parents of the victims concerned.

Mark and Jacob Iskander were struck and killed back in 2020 in a crosswalk in Westlake Village.

Earlier this year Rebecca Grossman was convicted of the double murder.

Now there are changes in the prosecution because of a potential conflict of interest. The boys' parents worry it could affect the case. Grossman is still awaiting sentencing and her legal team is expected to seek a new trial.

"I feel like we're punished as the victims," says Nancy Iskander. "We're being punished."

It took years for the Iskander family to get to trial and get a conviction.

"We came out of that courtroom thinking OK the fight for justice for the lives of the boys has now ended," says Iskander.

Now in a complicated twist Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón's office is reassigning the case to a different department and a different supervisor.

The DA claims there could be a potential conflict of interest since Grossman's new attorney also represents Diana Teran. She is an advisor to Gascón who was recently charged in connection with the illegal use of confidential sheriff's records.
Teran was the supervisor on the Iskander case.

The family doesn't think it's a coincidence that Grossman hired that particular attorney.

"This is clear conflict of interest that seems to be intentionally leveraged by Mrs. Grossman to influence either the steps or the sentencing," says the boys' father, Karim Iskander.

At first it appeared the two prosecutors in the case were also being removed but in a statement issued Monday afternoon the DA's office says in part "The trial attorneys, Jamie Castro and Ryan Gould, will remain on the case and assist the Major Crimes Division... by re-assigning the matter to the Major Crimes Division's chain of command and keeping the original trial attorneys, any potential internal conflict is resolved."

The motion to deal with the possible conflict of interest is scheduled for Friday.