SANTA ANA, California — An Orange County Superior Court judge ruled that a wrongful death civil case brought by the family of former pitcher Tyler Skaggs against the Angels will proceed, rejecting the Angels’ attempt to have the case tossed.
“There is evidence that … Angels Baseball had knowledge that (former Angels communications director Eric) Kay was distributing drugs to players and failed to take measures to get him to stop,” judge H. Shaina Colover wrote in her ruling.
Attorneys for both the Angels and the Skaggs family gathered in court on Thursday afternoon for a trial readiness conference. The case, which has been delayed numerous times over multiple years, is scheduled to begin on Sept. 22. Neither side asked for any further delays.
The suit was first filed in June of 2021, and was initially supposed to be tried in 2023.
Jury selection is expected to start on Oct. 6, and the trial will likely take approximately seven weeks. During Thursday’s hearing, the judge affirmed her tentative written ruling — denying the Angels’ motion for summary judgment, while granting the Skaggs family’s motion for summary adjudication.
Skaggs died of a Fentanyl overdose on July 1, 2019 in a Southlake, Texas hotel room. Kay is serving 22 years in federal prison for providing the lethal pill to Skaggs. He was found guilty of distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances during a 2022 trial.
The Angels have appeared to be funding Kay’s legal defense, due to their aligned interests. The Skaggs family is arguing that the Angels either did know, or should have known that Kay was providing pills to Skaggs. The Angels’ argument is centered around Skaggs’ personal responsibility in his own death. The Skaggs family is seeking $210 million in damages.
In preparation for trial, the Skaggs family hired attorney Shawn Holley to be co-lead counsel with Rusty Hardin. Holley represented Trevor Bauer in his domestic violence cases, and was a part of O.J. Simpson’s legal defense team. Like Hardin, she has represented numerous high-profile clients.
The potential for a settlement was not brought up during the hour-long hearing, which largely focused on dates and logistics for jury selection and the trial.
Colover issued tentative rulings on both the Angels and Skaggs family’s motions before court began. The Angels did not object to the judge’s findings, despite not having their motions granted.
“I was expecting to hear vigorous arguments on both sides,” a surprised Colover told both parties.
The Angels’ primary argument was based on the unclean hands doctrine, suggesting that Skaggs’ own “intentional and voluntary actions constitute a superseding, intervening cause.” The judge — who has access to un-redacted evidence that is not yet publicly available — said “the evidence presents a triable issue of material fact.”
The judge also granted two motions for summary adjudication brought by the Skaggs family. The rulings state that the Angels cannot use a statute of limitations defense, or a workers’ compensation exclusivity defense at trial.
(Photo: Brandon Wade / Getty Images)