Grossman's Trial Delayed Until 2024 As 'Voluminous' Discovery Continues

AGOURA HILLS, CA — Rebecca Grossman, charged with fatally striking two boys with her car and fleeing the scene in 2020, was set to stand trial next month. But now, her trial date has been delayed six months, to Jan. 16, 2024.

The defense and prosecution agreed to the date change in Judge Joseph Brandolino's Van Nuys courtroom Wednesday, which came after a back-and-forth between both sides over evidence in recent weeks.

Deputy district attorneys two weeks ago initially requested the trial be pushed to a later date as they were waiting on "voluminous amounts of discovery" from Grossman's team. While that was eventually rectified, prosecutors on Wednesday said they had yet to receive information about some defense experts and witnesses, the Ventura County Star reported.

Grossman's attorneys were initially steadfast in their opposition to a delay, though they said they were still waiting on information from the prosecutors' experts and some laboratory documents, the Star reported.

"Instead of getting to the point where we would be giving stuff to each other on the eve of the trial, which serves nobody, we ended up agreeing to a continuance," Deputy District Attorney Ryan Gould told Patch.

Gould said that the length of the delay came down to accommodating the schedules of attorneys, expert witnesses and others involved in the trial. While the earliest availability would have been in November, waiting until after the holidays would better ensure there would be no further delays, he said.

It would also open up a wider jury pool to include people who might be traveling in December, he added.

Pretrial business is set to be conducted in hearings throughout the next six months, Gould said.

Grossman was charged in 2020 with two felony counts each of murder and vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one felony count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death. Prosecutors say Grossman in September 2020 hit Mark, 11, and Jacob, 8, Iskander, who were crossing the street in a marked crosswalk.

Grossman, co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation and wife of prominent plastic surgeon Dr. Peter Grossman, faces a sentence of 34 years to life in prison if she's convicted of all counts.

Both sides in the case have been poring over evidence and appearing at pretrial hearings, including a recent court date where the attorneys argued over evidence related to Grossman's level of intoxication.