Jury Sides With Kai Spears In NYT Defamation Trial, Awards $9.25M In Damages

TUSCALOOSA, AL — A federal jury on Thursday sided with former Alabama basketball player Kai Spears in his defamation lawsuit against the New York Times Co., awarding him $9.25 million in damages following nearly two weeks of trial in U.S. District Court in Tuscaloosa.

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The eight-person jury returned its verdict at approximately 4:45 p.m. Thursday after deliberating for a little more than five hours.

Jurors found the New York Times at fault on Spears' claim of defamation and his claim of false light/invasion of privacy.

The largest part of the judgement, which the newspaper will no doubt appeal, saw the jury award Spears roughly $7.5 million in punitive damages.

"I first want to thank God for the outcome," Spears told Patch in the moments following the verdict. "I was honored to have an amazing legal team and I’m so thankful to [attorneys] Stephen New, Matt Glover and Ginger Buck for fighting the case on my behalf."

Spears then went on to say he hopes the verdict will help protect others like him.

"It’s been a long journey to get to this point and I’m grateful to the jury for awarding this case in my favor," he said. "My hope is that we all lead with love and always seek the one constant truth in this life."

Spears' parents were also pleased with the outcome of the nearly two-week trial, with his father, Christian Spears, telling Patch they are deeply grateful for the verdict and that the truth was finally heard.

"Our goal was a simple retraction from The New York Times," Christian Spears said. "Instead, the Times defended its inaccurate article and continued to distort facts rather than acknowledge the harm they caused, acting as if its power made it untouchable. The Alabama jury made it clear to the New York Times that they were wrong to do what they did."

ALSO READ: COLUMN | Kai Spears Versus The World

Christian Spears then expressed his gratitude to the jury for carefully weighing the evidence and standing up to one of the world’s most powerful media institutions.

"Our son Kai, the walk-on from Pittsburgh who earned a scholarship at Alabama, did not back down, and neither did the jury," he said. "Their verdict is a reminder that no institution, regardless of power or reach, is above accountability. We believed before trial that this would be the outcome, not because we underestimated the Times, but because our team had the truth on their side.”

The verdict is also historic, marking the first time in more than half a century since the New York Times was ordered to pay a defamation judgement — going back to the landmark New York Times Co. v. Sullivan case decision in 1964, although the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately voted 9–0 to overturn the judgment that same year.

The verdict brings an end to a trial stemming from a March 15, 2023, New York Times article that incorrectly reported Spears was in the passenger seat of former Alabama basketball star Brandon Miller's Dodge Charger during the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Jamea Harris near the Tuscaloosa Strip.

It was revealed shortly after the story was published that Crimson Tide basketball manager Cooper Lee, not Spears, was in Miller's vehicle when the shooting occurred.

Spears, who was a freshman walk-on for the Crimson Tide at the time, was several blocks away in another vehicle when the shooting occurred.

Former Alabama basketball player Darius Miles and his childhood friend Michael Lynn Davis were later charged with capital murder in connection with Harris' death.

Davis has since been convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, while Miles is still awaiting trial.

The defamation case ultimately centered heavily on the reporting process used by New York Times sportswriter Billy Witz, who relied almost completely on information from an anonymous source he met with in Tuscaloosa on the morning the article was published.

During the trial, jurors heard extensive testimony about the newspaper's use of anonymous sources, its efforts to verify the information before publication and its response after Alabama officials and Spears' family disputed the report.

Witz testified during the trial and apologized to Spears from the witness stand for incorrectly identifying him as the person in Miller's vehicle but insisted that he followed the newspaper's standards and policies relating to anonymous sources.

As Patch reported earlier on Thursday, attorneys delivered closing arguments before U.S. District Court Judge Annemarie Carney Axon sent the case to the jury.

Glover, of Tuscaloosa's Prince Glover Hayes, initially asked jurors to award his client $15 million in total damages.

Glover requested $5 million in compensatory damages on each of Spears' two claims, along with another $5 million in punitive damages.

"They were chasing a headline at the expense of a child," Glover told jurors during closing arguments.

Birmingham attorney Michael L. Bell of Lightfoot, Franklin & White, representing the New York Times, argued the incorrect report amounted to an honest mistake rather than actionable wrongdoing.

"This is a case of an honest mistake," Bell told jurors.

Bell also argued that Spears' attorneys failed to establish significant damages resulting from the article, pointing to Spears receiving a full scholarship to play for Alabama the following season.

No timetable has been given for when the Times plans to appeal the verdict.

A spokesperson for the newspaper said Thursday night the NYT is reviewing legal options, before saying “the verdict and award of damages are contrary to law and not supported by the evidence.”

This is a developing story. Tuscaloosa Patch will have more information as it becomes available.