Karim Iskander Testifies in Wrongful Death Trial Against Rebecca Grossman & Scott Erickson

The father of two brothers killed by a speeding SUV driver near Westlake Village, California, testified this week in the trial over he and his wife's wrongful death lawsuit. Karim Iskander's lawyer Brian Panish questioned him in direct-exam on on Thursday (May 14). 2:03 "What is your highest level of education?" "I have a PhD from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Is there special area of expertise that you have in that PhD? Yeah, the PhD was in biomedical sciences, and it was the Department of Pharmacology in the medical school there, and my research focused on on cancer and what genes predispose predisposes to get cancer." 05:37 "Baylor College of Medicine is a very reputable medical school, so I was very fortunate to be accepted to the program and excited. That's why I joined there, and because I studied cancer biology, that opened the door for me to work at MD Anderson Cancer Center, which is the biggest Research Hospital for cancer in the US." 09:15 "I was working for a company that got acquired by Amgen, and Amgen offered me a position to and the position will be based in 1000 Oaks in close to Westlake Village in California. I already came to the campus couple of times, and I really loved the southern oaks West Lake area. It's a very family oriented place." 11:41 "Why did you name your son Solomon?" "Because David in the Bible lost his beloved son with Bathsheba, and then after that, God allowed him to have another son, and he called him Solomon. So I called my son Solomon." 15:19 "Is it emotional for you to testify here today?" "It is very emotional." "It has a lot of mixed feelings. I, in a way, have been waiting for six years, but at the same time, I really don't like to talk about this, particularly in public." 15:45 "So Mark is an awesome kid, and it's not because he's my son, and it's not because he passed away. He is truly, truly, sincerely, the kid that you will wish for yourself." 31:12 Mark's school interview "I remember the lady who interviewed him ran after the interview to us to congratulate us on having such a kid. And I told her, like, why? What did he say?" "And I don't recall all what she said, but the answers he gave, it's unbelievable for a 10 year old. You know, she asked him, why you want to join us Christian? And he told her something along the line of, we have choices in life, and we make choices based on priorities. Are where and where we want to go as a human being, and the mission of us Christians align with where I want to do." 41:05 "Mark's birthday was September 18, and he passed away September 29 so it was like two weeks before he died. We usually give him options. Do you want a birthday party, or you want a trip, or you want an activity, and he picked to spend a day at the beach with his friend and I. So I took his friends and him to if I recall collecting Malibu Beach, Zumba beach in Malibu, and we spent the day there. It was amazing. I when I came back, I told my wife, I had so much fun. I want to do this all the time, at least monthly, because it was just a fun group of young, young boys that are just amazing together." 55:21 "My mother in law and my sister in law always made fun of me, of how I thought of Jacob, but literally, Jacob is the is the boy I always wish to be my entire life. He's just naturally cool. He's He's attractive, nonchalant, very, very confident, also very athletic. He makes us proud every time I took him to any type of game. He just thrived." 01:06:26 "What role did Jacob play, or was he growing into in your family?" "He was definitely the protector of the family, and he really cherished that type of role." 01:17:54 testimony turns to the day Mark and Jacob were killed 01:23:17 "And he told me, are you? It was obvious on my face. So he told me, are you his dad? And I said, Yes. He said, give him mouth to mouth. " 01:26:00 "And then I went to a grassy area. There it was exactly between Mark and Jacob. I cried and I I remember, keep telling myself, this is not happening. This is not happening. Then I tell myself, No, this happened. You can do anything about it. You have to deal with it. You have to accept it. And then I go back to saying it's not happening, it's not happening." 01:34:12 "What happened to that house after the deaths of Mark and Jacob?" "So, of course, different people have different reactions. So Nancy was struggling with the area and with the house. Everything is a trigger point, and she will cry at school, cry driving, cry in the house. Cry everywhere." 01:38:52 "How has the relocation affected your family's connection with Mark and Jacob?" "It's very complicated." 01:40:26 the boys "open up opportunities in my life. Their social success, their sports success. Was making me very proud, very strong, very empowered. I was less worried that about Nancy and the younger kids..." 01:43:30 "I'm seeing my wife completely heartbroken. I'm seeing Zachary completely heartbroken."