Overview
- Opening statements were delivered Tuesday in Santa Ana, and testimony began Wednesday in the Skaggs family’s wrongful-death case against the Los Angeles Angels.
- First witness Tim Mead testified he searched Eric Kay’s desk three times for signs of illicit drugs or paraphernalia and said he found nothing.
- Mead said he knew Kay struggled with mental health and prescription medication, described erratic incidents and hospitalization in 2019, involved the team’s employee assistance program, and did not escalate concerns to human resources.
- The plaintiffs argue the club knew or should have known Kay was supplying players and seek $118 million in projected lost earnings plus other damages.
- The Angels contend they had no knowledge of drug distribution and say Skaggs’ mixing of alcohol and oxycodone caused his death; Kay was convicted in 2022 and is serving 22 years, and he is not expected to testify as the multiweek trial proceeds with potential player witnesses.