Tyler Skaggs Trial

[nicksaviking]

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/02/eric-kay-convicted-of-drug-distribution-resulting-in-death-of-tyler-skaggs.html

The communications director who gave Skaggs the drugs he OD'd on was convicted. Good news there.

Less thrilled to see that of the five players who testified about getting opioids from this guy, three were former Twins. And for some reason, all three were Twins in the 2019 season.

[Cap'n Piranha]

I'll admit I hadn't been following this closely, so I am perhaps missing some things.  That out of the way, some of the comments were interesting.  As it seems clear Skaggs took these pills of his own free will, there can be no homicide/manslaughter charge here, I would think (unless it can be proven that Kay knew the pills had dangerous amounts of fentanyl in them).  As such, why is Matt Harvey getting immunity when he engaged in the same actions as Kay?  In an alternate universe, it could just as easily have been a pill from Harvey that killed Skaggs.  It also seems relevant that the ME who examined the toxicology report admitted that the fentanyl levels in Skaggs could have risen post-mortem--therefore, it would appear there is no way of knowing precisely how much fentanyl was in Skaggs' system at time of death, and it's therefore hard to blame fentanyl for the death.  If the argument is that though the fentanyl wasn't at a lethal level, it was the "straw that broke the camel's back", certainly that argument could be made for the alcohol as well (i.e. had Skaggs taken the fentanyl with no alcohol in his system, he would have lived).

[Shaitan]

2 hours ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

I'll admit I hadn't been following this closely, so I am perhaps missing some things.  That out of the way, some of the comments were interesting.  As it seems clear Skaggs took these pills of his own free will, there can be no homicide/manslaughter charge here, I would think (unless it can be proven that Kay knew the pills had dangerous amounts of fentanyl in them).  As such, why is Matt Harvey getting immunity when he engaged in the same actions as Kay?  In an alternate universe, it could just as easily have been a pill from Harvey that killed Skaggs.  It also seems relevant that the ME who examined the toxicology report admitted that the fentanyl levels in Skaggs could have risen post-mortem--therefore, it would appear there is no way of knowing precisely how much fentanyl was in Skaggs' system at time of death, and it's therefore hard to blame fentanyl for the death.  If the argument is that though the fentanyl wasn't at a lethal level, it was the "straw that broke the camel's back", certainly that argument could be made for the alcohol as well (i.e. had Skaggs taken the fentanyl with no alcohol in his system, he would have lived).

That is not, at all, how the legal system works.

[tony&rodney]

Does anybody else wonder how many lower level baseball employees have been asked by players for a little favor? 

The whole scenario is just sad all around. I'm not sure how the trial solves anything, although I have no sympathy for the convicted individual. The abuse and misuse of opioids are a scourge in this century, littered across the country.