The wrongful-death trial brought by pitcher Tyler Skaggs’ family against the Angels is expected to begin in a little more than a month, according to a schedule set by an Orange County Superior Court judge during a hearing on Thursday, Aug. 28.
After several lengthy delays, attorneys on both sides of the civil case confirmed they are prepared to move forward with the jury trial. The attorneys, as well as the judge, all agreed that they want the trial completed by Thanksgiving. The family has asked for $210 million.
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Jury selection is expected to begin on Oct. 6, with the trial itself expected to last more than a month.
In 2019, Skaggs was discovered in a hotel room dead from a lethal combination of fentanyl and alcohol. The 27-year-old Santa Monica High graduate had spent most of his decade-long professional career in the Angels organization. Besides the Angels, he pitched in the big leagues for Arizona.
Eric Kay, a former Angels communication staffer, was convicted in federal court in 2022 of providing Skaggs with drugs and sentenced to 22 years in federal prison.
In the current civil lawsuit, Skaggs’ family argues the Angels knew, or should have known, about Skaggs’ drug use prior to his death. Attorneys for the Angels argue that Kay and Skaggs had a “clandestine arrangement” in which Kay would obtain street drugs that Skaggs paid for.
The potential financial stakes for the Angels are high. Even a partial finding that the organization was responsible for Skaggs’ death could lead to a multi-million-dollar verdict.
Legal clashes over potential evidence have delayed the trial multiple times. Disputes earlier this year centered on the contents of cellphones belonging to Skaggs’ and to various Angels officials, including owner Arte Moreno.
And attorneys for the Skaggs family — which includes his widow, Carli, his mother, Debbie Hetman, and his father, Darrell Skaggs — previously accused the Angel lawyers of trying to “run out the clock” on a civil trial.
The attorneys took a much more conciliatory tone during Thursday’s hearing.
Both sides acknowledged they have plenty of work to do before the trial — including 20-plus potential depositions for each side. But both the Skaggs family attorneys and the Angels’ said they were confident they would get that work done in time.
