Eric Kay trial following death of Tyler Skaggs is delayed - Los Angeles Times
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Angels

Eric Kay trial in connection with Tyler Skaggs death is delayed due to amended charge

Eric Kay
The trial of former Angels communications director Eric Kay has been postponed until late January.
(John McCoy / Getty Images)
By Nathan FennoStaff Writer 
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The trial of former Angels communications director Eric Kay in the overdose death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs has been pushed to late January.

In a brief order issued Wednesday in Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. District Judge Terry Means granted the motion by Kay’s attorneys to delay the trial that had been scheduled to start Monday.

Means wrote that “a failure to grant the requested continuance would deny counsel for the defendant the reasonable time necessary for effective preparation, taking into account the exercise of due diligence.â€

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ANAHEIM, CALIF. - JULY 12: Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Taylor Cole (67) places his hand on the Number 45 on the pitchers mound, in memory of the late Tyler Skaggs before the start of a Major League Baseball game between the Los Angeles Angels and the Seattle Mariners at Angel Stadium on Friday, July 12, 2019 in Anaheim, Calif. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

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The last days of Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs: painkillers, an overdose and a search for answers

Eric Kay, the Angels’ former communications director, has pleaded not guilty to federal charges in Tyler Skaggs’ death.

The trial is now slated to begin Jan. 24, the sixth new trial date since Kay was charged in August 2020.

The latest postponement came after a grand jury returned a superseding indictment against Kay on Tuesday that added the distribution of oxycodone to an existing charge alleging he distributed fentanyl.

Kay’s attorneys, Michael Molfetta and William Reagan Wynn, sought a delay, writing earlier this week that the superseding indictment undermined their trial strategy and that they needed at least 30 days to prepare to defend the revamped charge.

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Prosecutors opposed the request, arguing in a response by Assistant U.S. Atty. Lindsey Beran that oxycodone had been added “so as not to confuse the jury†and that defense motion was “just another attempt to cause additional, unwarranted delay.â€

FILE - In this May 25, 2019, file photo, Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Tyler Skaggs throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers in Anaheim, Calif. The Angels say they do not know whether a longtime public relations official had been providing drugs to late pitcher Skaggs, as detailed in a report on ESPN's "Outside the Lines." Eric Kay, a 24-year employee of the Angels' PR department, told the Drug Enforcement Agency he had provided opioids to Skaggs and used them with the pitcher for years, according to the ESPN report Saturday, Oct. 12, 2019. Kay reportedly watched as Skaggs snorted three lines of crushed pills in his hotel room in Texas, on the night before he was found dead. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

California

Ex-Angels employee charged in Tyler Skaggs’ death supplied players with drugs, feds say

Federal prosecutors allege Eric Kay supplied oxycodone to other MLB players and offered team memorabilia and game tickets while buying drugs online.

Skaggs was found dead in a Texas hotel room on July 1, 2019, before the Angels started a series against the Texas Rangers. An autopsy by the Tarrant County medical examiner found Skaggs choked on his vomit that resulted from “mixed ethanol, fentanyl and oxycodone intoxication.†Law enforcement discovered a counterfeit oxycodone pill laced with fentanyl in the hotel room.

Prosecutors allege Kay had distributed oxycodone to Major League Baseball players since 2017 and provided the fentanyl that resulted in Skaggs’ death. Kay has pleaded not guilty.

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Nathan Fenno

Nathan Fenno is an investigative reporter for the Los Angeles Times.

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