FORT WORTH (Texas) — The question was dropped almost casually as part of cross-examination after an exciting day at court. Michael Molfetta, defense attorney, asked a former DEA Agent if he was aware that Tyler Skaggs had sent a letter in 2019. Los Angeles AngelsPartner Matt HarveyA text was sent asking him to place drugs in his locker as he wanted to pitch “loosey goosey”.
This nugget and the suggestion Skaggs might have pitched in a high-stakes game made it into Monday’s testimony. It was only a hint of what Harvey will testify on Tuesday. Harvey will be asked a lot of questions about his past drug use.
Molfetta didn’t suggest Monday that Harvey had given Skaggs the drugs which led to his death. However, the defense team would like to prove that Skaggs had opioids from other sources over time and that he might have received the July 2019 supply of opioids from someone other that Kay, the former Angels communications director. Kay is currently on trial for Skaggs’ murder.
Harvey’s revelation was made on the most dramatic day of the trial. Chris Leanos, a friend of Skaggs, told the jury that he was a drug dealer.
Leanos was called by the government to testify, stating that he was not present in California the day before Skaggs’ death. This was to prove Leanos wasn’t a possible source of Skaggs drugs when he died. Leanos testified that he saw what looked to be a drug deal between Kay and Skaggs during a charity event at Disneyland. After which Skaggs disappeared into an area for men. Leanos claimed that the transaction appeared “odd”, and that he guarded Skaggs’ door until Skaggs arrived. Cross-examination revealed that he believed Kay gave Skaggs drugs and Skaggs used them.
Leanos, however, left many landmines for prosecution.
Leanos, who claimed he sold MDMA, marijuana, and cocaine for years, said that Skaggs sent him an SMS “a week or two” prior to the pitcher’s death asking for oxycodone. Leanos claimed that he refused the request, that he doesn’t sell opioids, and that he advised Skaggs not to use them due to the danger.
According to him, Skaggs’ funeral was followed by a conversation with his family about the text. He then deleted the text at Skaggs’ request.
Molfetta asked Leanos during cross-examination how many times he had sold each drug from his portfolio since 2018. Molfetta then asked Leanos how many times he had sold each drug in his arsenal between 2018 and 2018. But, despite the fact that he answered the question, Molfetta stated, “That’s 240-250 drug transactions in the past three years, yet the government gives you a deal that allows you to admit to literally killing anyone.” At which point, the government objected. Leanos has never been accused of any killing.
Judge Terry R. Means however allowed the question.
Molfetta reiterated that Leanos could hypothetically admit to murder and not be charged, “And they wanted to talk about that transaction at the house, Disneyland?”
“Yes,” Leanos said. “And that was because I was out of the town” when Skaggs went to Texas.
Skaggs asked Leanos to admit that he brought small amounts of MDMA and cocaine to Skaggs 2018 bachelor party in Las Vegas.
Also Monday
• A Southlake, Texas, police detective testified that when Kay was interviewed the day Skaggs died, he lied about both having been in Skaggs’ room and Skaggs’ history of drug use.
• The government introduced extensive evidence of Kay’s seeking opioids through the online marketplace app OfferUp, in which he repeatedly said he wanted to avoid anything with fentanyl.
• The government also established numerous Venmo payments from Skaggs and pitcher Garrett RichardsKay. Richards will testify in this week’s hearing.
• After the government established that Leanos could not have gotten from Arizona to Anaheim, California, in time to meet Skaggs before the team flight took off, the defense raised the possibility that Leanos had a window to meet him at Long Beach Airport, from which the team airplane departed. Leanos said he did not. Both a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent as well as a detective from the police said they didn’t investigate this possibility.
• A mystery from last week was cleared up. Rebecca Schoeny, Angel Stadium’s catering manager, was the “Ben R”, who sent Skaggs text messages one day before his death. This was a woman who had sent Skaggs a selfie in a flirtatious exchange. She said that she never had an “inappropriate relationship” with Skaggs and did not know why Skaggs listed her as “Ben R.”
• Adam Chodzko, Kay’s assistant in 2019 and his replacement as communications director, testified that in the days after Skaggs’ death, an intoxicated Kay confessed that he had been with Skaggs the night he died. Chodzko stated that Kay had told him that Skaggs did not use the night before and that any drugs Skaggs had in his room at Kay’s arrival.
• Chodzko said that the next day, he told team president John Carpino what had happened and then took Kay to a rehabilitation facility.
• Based on the past week’s testimony, Harvey is expected to tell jurors that he did provide Skaggs with drugs on occasion, but not the ones that contributed to his death. Harvey was not able to make the Texas trip because he was on the injured list.
The day ended with an unexpected rebuke by the government. A cardiologist was the last witness to testify that Skaggs didn’t die of a heart problem. He was there for twenty minutes. Although no one suggested that Skaggs had died from a heart issue, prosecutors were concerned that jurors might be misled by Skaggs’ autopsy which indicated that Skaggs had thickening in the heart. It was normal for professional athletes, and the government didn’t take any chances.
Means said to the prosecutors that he did not mean to be a smart aleck, but that he would bring another doctor tomorrow to prove he wasn’t dying from cancer. A nephrologist then said it wasn’t his kidneys. He reminded them that they would not get more time if they ran out of their 20 hour allotted time and it would be their fault.