Jurors in the Tyler Skaggs wrongful death case against the Los Angeles Angels are facing dueling explanations for exactly which substance or mix of substances caused the pitcher’s death, as attorneys for both the ballclub and Skaggs’ family have offered opposing expert testimony in the ongoing trial.
A coroner’s report released more than six years ago found that Skaggs had the powerful painkillers fentanyl and oxycodone in his system, as well as alcohol, and had choked on his vomit before he died in a Texas hotel room at the beginning of a team road trip.
The fentanyl — which was inside a counterfeit oxycodone pill — was key to an earlier criminal trial against Eric Kay, the Angels communications staffer who had been providing Skaggs and other players with illicit opioids. That earlier jury found that “but for” the pill with fentanyl that Kay had provided, Skaggs would not have died. And that verdict led to a more than 20-year prison sentence for Kay.
But the earlier verdict from a Texas jury didn’t necessarily outline what exact role the oxycodone and alcohol played in the death of Skaggs. And that is now a key question for the current Orange County jury tasked with deciding whether the Angels bear any responsibility for his death.
Dr. Shaun Carstairs — an emergency medicine physician and medical toxicologist who testified on Wednesday and Friday as an expert on behalf of the team — said the mix of multiple substances led to Skaggs’ death.
Carstairs estimated that Skaggs had consumed 11 to 13 alcoholic drinks — likely on the team flight to Texas — and then after arriving at his hotel chopped up the counterfeit pill with a room key and used a hollowed out ballpoint pen to snort the powder. Five pink pills containing oxycodone and another counterfeit pill were found in Skaggs’ room after his death.
The doctor compared mixing fentanyl with alcohol or other substances to playing Russian roulette.
“This is not just putting one bullet in the chamber, it is putting five bullets in a six-chamber revolver,” he testified.
Kay obtained counterfeit pills — which Carstairs described as “M30 pills” meant to contain 30 milligrams of oxycodone — from dealers he met online. Such illicitly manufactured pills generally either come from China, or the precursor chemicals that create them are sent to Mexico and the pills are sent to the United States, Carstairs said.
“The incidents of counterfeit M30 pills are very high,” the doctor testified. “If someone is obtaining these pills illicitly, I think there would be a significant change it would not contain what they think it contains.”
Carstairs also testified that by snorting rather than swallowing the pill, Skaggs received a three to four times higher dose of fentanyl.
Earlier in the trial, Dr. Stacey Hail — an expert on emergency medicine and toxicology who testified on behalf of the Skaggs family — argued that the fentanyl was the cause of Skaggs’ death, and contended the oxycodone and alcohol were not substantial factors.
Based on abrupt ends to text conversations Skaggs was carrying on with his wife and a teammate, Hail testified, the pitcher died quickly after ingesting the fentanyl.
“I believe the fentanyl was the last thing that was used prior to his rapid loss of consciousness and death,” she testified.
Hail said Skaggs had built up a tolerance to oxycodone and described him as having a “Tuesday night” level of alcohol intoxication based on patients she routinely sees in a Texas emergency room. She added that snorting the fentanyl pill made no difference.
Based on the position Skaggs was found in — laying down with the boots he was wearing as part of an effort by him and other teammates to dress up as cowboys for the trip hanging off the bed — indicates a quick death, Hail added.
“My opinion was Tyler Skaggs would not have died but for the fentanyl,” she testified.
During the testimony of the defense witness on Friday, an attorney for the Skaggs family also questioned his estimate about how many drinks Skaggs consumed on what would have been a roughly three hour flight.
“One beer every 13 minutes?” Attorney Daniel Dutko said to Carstairs. “That is a lot of liquor.”
What role the illicit pill provided by an Angels employee played and whether Skaggs’ own actions solely caused his death could potentially factor into the jury’s decision regarding whether the ball club is responsible.
Orange County Superior Court Judge H. Shaina Colover repeatedly has told jurors to expect to begin deliberations in the case the week after next, leaving just one more week of testimony. Attorneys for the Angels have said they don’t know how they will fit all their remaining witnesses into that time frame, and have asked the judge to limit the amount of time the attorneys for Skaggs family has to question the upcoming defense witnesses.
Testimony in the trial resumes Monday, Dec. 8 in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana.