Overview
- The legal team is trying to prove Skaggs’ iPad was rendered unusable by fentanyl exposure before his death to establish a survival claim.
- California bars punitive damages in wrongful-death cases but allows them in related survival actions tied to pre-death property loss.
- The device, valued at roughly $2,000, remains in DEA custody while its condition and chain of evidence figure prominently in proceedings.
- Plaintiffs point to the O. J. Simpson civil verdict to argue that low-value property damage can justify substantial punitive awards, with reporting citing up to $400 million.
- The suit alleges former Angels communications director Eric Kay supplied the fentanyl-laced pill Skaggs ingested in 2019, focusing liability on the organization.