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Rebecca Grossman is accused of dashing by a Westlake crosswalk and barely making use of the brakes of her white Mercedes SUV earlier than slamming into two younger boys.
A former NASA scientist mentioned Wednesday at her homicide trial the Hidden Hills girl didn’t have time to slam on her brakes earlier than her airbags deployed. Stephen Casner additionally testified for the protection that it was “arduous to think about” that the youngsters weren’t first struck by a black Mercedes SUV that preceded Grossman by the crosswalk.
Grossman is accused of driving her Mercedes SUV at excessive speeds on a quiet Westlake Village avenue, intently following the Mercedes pushed by her then-lover, former Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson, with whom she’d earlier had cocktails.
Investigators testified she was going 73 mph when she fatally struck 11-year-old Mark Iskander and his 8-year-old brother, Jacob, having tapped the brakes a second and a half earlier than the collision triggered her airbags.
Casner, a human elements skilled who retired from NASA and writer of the ebook “Cautious,” in regards to the psychology of security, mentioned research present “it takes rather a lot longer than 1.5 seconds for most individuals to slam on the brakes.”
He downplayed earlier testimony by an skilled witness for the prosecution in regards to the position of pace within the tragedy. He faulted the information that have been cited and mentioned the testimony “was most likely irrelevant.”
Casner was amongst a number of witnesses introduced in by protection attorneys as they sought to undercut the prosecution’s case in opposition to Grossman. She is charged with two counts of second-degree homicide, two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one rely of hit-and-run driving leading to loss of life within the deadly collision.
Tony Buzbee, Grossman’s lead legal professional, has maintained from the outset of the trial that it was Erickson who struck the 2 boys, sending 11-year-old Mark vaulting into the trail of his consumer’s car.
As he questioned Casner, Buzbee mentioned there have been 4 key witnesses to the tragedy — the boys’ mom, Nancy Iskander, who dived along with her 5-year-old out of the trail of Erickson’s black AMG Mercedes; Susan Manners, who stood 12 toes away on the roadside; and two individuals, Jake Sands and Yasamin Eftekhari, who witnessed the tragedy from a automotive.
Iskander testified she noticed Erickson’s automotive undergo the crosswalk and rescued her 5-year-old from its path earlier than seeing her older boys vanish after Grossman’s car went by. Manners mentioned she heard one affect after which she noticed Mark struck. Sands and Eftekhari described seeing Jacob hit. These witnesses have differed over which lanes the impacts occurred in.
“Is it attainable to give you a coherent idea?” Buzbee requested Casner, who reviewed the witnesses’ testimony.
“I hear many alternative eventualities,” Casner replied.
Buzbee then organized two court docket chairs to symbolize the black and white Mercedes SUVs. Portraying himself as Nancy Iskander, he approximated the placement of the youngsters.
“Is there any means the black automotive missed hitting the children?” Buzbee requested.
“It’s arduous to think about that automotive getting by and other people simply standing there,” Casner replied.
Prosecutor Jamie Castro famous, nevertheless, that in an April report that was what Casner mentioned occurred. The previous NASA scientist acknowledged that he wrote that Erickson’s car handed by the crosswalk with out hitting anybody earlier than Grossman’s car entered it.
Casner mentioned that idea was based mostly on what he knew on the time.
Underneath questioning by Castro, Casner additionally conceded that in his ebook “Cautious,” he wrote that even a single alcoholic drink may have speedy results on an individual.
Following the deadly accident, Grossman examined at or barely beneath California’s authorized alcohol restrict, however investigators and criminalists have testified that she was impaired by a mix of alcohol and Valium. Grossman’s protection crew attacked that testimony.
A retired Houston detective sergeant, Donald Egdorf, testified for the protection, saying the sphere sobriety take a look at performed on the collision scene “was an instance of what to not do,” providing a dissection of errors.
Egdorf, a drug and alcohol recognition skilled, mentioned he had performed 1000’s of such investigations and that, based mostly on the vast majority of proof together with the movies of her conduct, Grossman was “not intoxicated or impaired” after the collision.
The witness additionally spoke to the general investigation, saying it could be traditional to doc proof on the crash scene with a whole lot of images after which rigorously collect proof for preservation. Jurors have already heard that gadgets together with two Mercedes emblems an investigator mentioned have been smashed off the entrance of Grossman’s Mercedes are lacking and never in proof.
Jurors additionally heard from a video skilled, David Notowitz, who testified for the protection that — based mostly on a video from a house safety system — Grossman was going 52.7 mph after her Mercedes had traveled 202 toes from the crosswalk. That testimony appeared designed to undermine prosecution consultants who’ve testified the Mercedes 43 GLE AMG was going 81 mph earlier than Grossman braked barely earlier than affect.
Underneath cross-examination, Notowitz admitted he couldn’t say how briskly Grossman was going whereas within the crosswalk. Buzbee, nevertheless, questioned how his consumer’s automotive may sluggish so quickly in such a brief distance: “We don’t have a digital camera for that, however we do have is frequent sense.”
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