Testimony begins in trial over death of Tyler Skaggs

SANTA ANA, Calif. (CN) — A top Los Angeles Angels executive took the stand Wednesday as the first witness in what is expected to be a two-month civil trial that pits the family of deceased pitcher Tyler Skaggs against the baseball team that he used to play for.

Tim Mead was the head of communications for the Angels when Skaggs died of a drug overdose in 2019 in a Texas hotel room during a road trip. Eric Kay, who worked in the communications department under Mead, was later convicted of selling Skaggs counterfeit Oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl, and he was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison. Skaggs’ family — his surviving wife and parents — have accused the Angels of knowing that Kay was a drug addict and drug dealer and providing pills to as many as half a dozen ballplayers. The organization, they say, looked the other way and allowed Kay to travel with the team, giving him personal access to the players in their hotel.

The Angels have denied knowing that Kay was selling pills. In his opening statement on Tuesday, Angels’ attorney Todd Theodora placed the blame for the Skaggs’ death on the pitcher himself, who died from the combined effects of fentanyl, oxycodone and the 11 to 13 alcoholic drinks he consumed that fateful night.

“Tyler Skaggs was playing Russian roulette with his life that night,” Theodora said.

Mead is thought to be one of the key witnesses for plaintiffs, and a somewhat hostile one. On Wednesday, he repeatedly denied knowing about the extent of Kay’s drug addiction prior to 2019.

“Isn’t it true that Eric Kay told you he was taking five Vicodin a day?” plaintiffs’ attorney Rusty Hardin asked Mead.

“No sir, I do not recall that,” Mead answered.

Mead insisted that he thought Kay was taking prescription medication to treat his depression, attention deficit disorder and bipolar disorder and denied knowing that Kay was abusing drugs. He said he thought Kay was “mismanaging” his prescription medication. Even after Kay’s family attempted to hold an intervention, Mead continued to think the issue was prescription meds, he said.

“Unlawful drugs had never entered the picture,” Mead testified. “When I see addiction, I think it’s his mismanagement of his prescription medications.”

Eventually, Mead did admit that three times over the course of three years he had an assistant search through Kay’s desk drawers.

“I was looking for something that looked out of place like syringe or powder,” he said. “I wasn’t worried. I was curious. And I wanted to make sure.”

“It never crossed my mind about Eric Kay dealing,” he added.

He also denied that Kay’s behavior — a bit strange, at times — was an obvious red flag that he had a drug problem. Mead referred to Kay’s “off days,” where the former communications would appear sweaty and red-faced. Some of Kay’s conduct might be considered “horseplay,” Mead said, like when he was paid $1,000 for one of the players to throw a fastball at him. Other conduct crossed the line into what might be deemed fireable offenses. A married man with children, Kay, at one point, was having an affair with an intern. When asked why he never reported the affair to human resources, Mead replied, “I looked at it as a very personal issue.”

“I told them both it was inappropriate,” he added.

Neither individual was disciplined.

Nor did Mead report another incident — when Kay screamed at a different intern for displaying a signed baseball that Kay had given to her on her desk. Mead said he mediated the altercation, and Kay apologized.

“I felt like I handled the situation,” Mead testified. “I did admonish him — that type of thing can’t happen.”

Hardin suggested Mead had given Kay special treatment and had sheltered or protected him. Mead denied this.

“I wasn’t protecting him from the organization,” Mead said. If anything, he said, he was trying to hide Kay’s behavior from the media.

Towards the end of the day, Hardin accused Mead of enabling Kay and “playing god” with his decisions not to report Kay to human resources or two higher ranking executives. Mead denied this.

“I didn’t play god counselor,” Mead said. “I tried to help an individual and his family.”

Hardin pressed on.

“Can you agree with me that people, trying to do the right thing, sometimes instead of following the rules can make huge mistakes?” the attorney asked.

“In hindsight, yes sir,” Mead said.

“Do you think maybe that happened here?” Hardin asked.

“No sir, I don’t,” Mead replied.

Mead is expected to retake the stand on Friday. He’ll be followed by other Angels executives, including the current president of the organization, John Carpino. On Tuesday, Angels star slugger and three-time MVP, Mike Trout, is scheduled to testify. Albert Pujols may also testify later in the trial, among other past and current ballplayers.

The Skaggs family is seeking $118 million for what they say the pitcher, 27 years old when he died, would have earned over the course of the rest of his career, as well as emotional punitive damages.

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