SANTA ANA, Calif. — Jurors heard conflicting testimony from two key witnesses Tuesday regarding the Los Angeles Angels’ culpability and prior knowledge of drug use in the wrongful death lawsuit against the team by the family of deceased pitcher Tyler Skaggs.
A detective investigating Skaggs’ 2019 overdose death stated in a video deposition that Eric Kay, the former team employee now serving a 22-year federal prison sentence for his role in Skaggs’ death, told law enforcers he had previously informed his boss about Kay’s and Skaggs’ drug use in 2017.
Kay’s boss, Tim Mead, had previously testified he knew nothing of such illicit drug use and was surprised to learn that Kay had supplied the fentanyl-laced opioid that killed Skaggs.
Defense attorneys, now pleading the team’s case after weeks of testimony portraying Skaggs as a wrongful-death victim, instead produced witnesses portraying the pitcher as a longtime drug user who occasionally provided his teammates with the pills he received.
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The question at hand now, as throughout the trial, was whether senior team officials knew of Kay’s drug use and Skaggs’ addiction vulnerability when the two were left free to interact during the Texas road trip when Skaggs died. The Skaggs family is seeking $118 million in potential lost earnings plus damages.
The team has argued that officials were not aware of Skaggs’ drug use or at fault for his death, contending Skaggs’ reckless decision-making and longtime abuse of prescription opioids were what led to his death.
The testimony by Southlake, Texas police Detective Delaney Green contradicted that of multiple Angels witnesses, including Mead, that the club was not aware of Skaggs’ drug use.
In October, Mead, the former Angels head of communications, testified that Kay never told him he was selling or providing drugs to Skaggs.
Green testified that Kay made his remarks about Mead’s prior knowledge during an interview with Drug Enforcement Agency investigators after Skaggs’ death.
Even though this week was reserved largely for the defense to call witnesses, the presiding judge allowed plaintiffs to play the brief video deposition.
Kelly Miller, the sister of Eric Kay, testified for the defense Tuesday and appeared to contradict earlier testimony from Kay’s ex-wife, Camela Kay, about confronting another team official outside Kay’s home in 2019 regarding Kay’s drug abuse.
Camela Kay testified that Angels traveling secretary Tom Taylor drove Eric Kay home following an episode of strange behavior in the office. A pill bottle fell into the gutter where Taylor’s car was parked outside Kay’s home. Camela Kay testified she emptied the contents of the bottle in front of Taylor and that it contained 10 blue oxycodone pills.
Miller, who was at Kay’s house at the time, testified she saw the pill bottle fall out of the car, but that “there was no conversation” about opioids while she was at the car and that she never saw pills that were in the bottle. Miller testified she eventually went inside the home to take care of her children. It’s unclear if Camela Kay and Taylor remained outside after Miller went inside.
Camela Kay also quoted Miller as recounting that Eric Kay said the pills he possessed were for Skaggs.
“That conversation never happened,” Miller said, adding that she never told Camela Kay anything about her brother, Skaggs and drugs. Miller said she had not heard Skaggs’ name until his death.
In a short cross-examination, Miller acknowledged to knowing her brother struggled with addiction as far back as 2012 and that in the past she said she believed it was “karma” that her brother was alive and Skaggs was dead.
Sandy Kay, Eric Kay’s mother, showed up to court Tuesday afternoon following her daughter’s testimony. She was asked to leave the courtroom because she might still be called as a witness.
The defense’s case is expected to conclude later this week, followed by closing arguments and deliberation next week.
