A federal jury in the US state of Alabama has awarded a former college basketball player $9.25 million after finding that The New York Times defamed him by incorrectly placing him at the scene of a fatal shooting.
The eight-member jury delivered its verdict Thursday following a nine-day trial in the US District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
Kai Spears, who played for the University of Alabama men’s basketball team, sued the newspaper in 2023 over an article published that March.
The report, citing an anonymous person familiar with the investigation, incorrectly identified Spears as a passenger in a car that was present when 23-year-old Jamea Harris was fatally shot in the city of Tuscaloosa in January 2023.
Court records established that Spears was not in the vehicle and was not at the scene when the shooting occurred.
The passenger was in fact Cooper Lee, a student manager for the basketball team. Lee was not implicated in or charged over the shooting.
The Times initially reviewed its reporting after Alabama’s athletic director and Spears’ father denied that the player had been present. The newspaper did additional reporting after Spears filed his lawsuit and published an editor’s note correcting the article.
Spears argued that the false report caused emotional and reputational harm by permanently associating his name with a murder.
His attorney, Matt Glover, welcomed the jury’s decision, saying he believed the verdict would “improve journalism throughout the country.”
The Times said it was disappointed with the outcome and was considering its legal options.
“We’re disappointed the jury found The Times liable for an honest mistake,” the newspaper said, maintaining that the verdict and damages were contrary to law and unsupported by the evidence.
According to the Times, the case marked the first time in more than 50 years that it had lost a US defamation lawsuit involving one of its articles.
Spears transferred from Alabama after the 2023-24 season and later played for Marshall and West Liberty in the state of West Virginia during his college basketball career.
