The New York Times Loses Defamation Lawsuit in Alabama

An Alabama jury determined on Thursday that The New York Times defamed a college basketball player in a 2023 article that incorrectly reported he was at the scene of a deadly shooting in Tuscaloosa.

The eight-person jury awarded $9.25 million in damages, after a nine-day trial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

Kai Spears, who played for the University of Alabama men’s basketball team, sued The Times in 2023, accusing it of libel and “false light” invasion of privacy. He claimed the article, which mistakenly reported he was a passenger in a car at the scene of the shooting, had caused him emotional distress and forever linked him with a murder. Three other basketball players from the school were present at the shooting, which killed a 23-year-old mother.

The Times corrected the article and added an editor’s note after Mr. Spears filed his lawsuit, which disclosed the identity of the passenger in the car for the first time.

The Times had not lost a defamation lawsuit brought in the United States over one of its articles in more than 50 years.

Charlie Stadtlander, a spokesman for The Times, said in a statement that the company was reviewing its legal options.

“We’re disappointed the jury found The Times liable for an honest mistake,” he said. “We thank the jury for its service, but believe the verdict and award of damages are contrary to law and not supported by the evidence.”

Representatives for Mr. Spears did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The jury deliberated for about five hours on Thursday. Because Alabama law caps jury awards in certain cases, the damages will be adjusted down by over $2 million.

The Times also faces a $15 billion defamation case brought by President Trump, who has accused the newspaper of seeking to undermine his 2024 candidacy and disparage his reputation as a businessman. The Times has said the lawsuit has no merit.

The article at the center of Mr. Spears’s lawsuit was published on March 15, 2023, after coverage of a deadly January shooting at which three Alabama basketball players were present. (One player was charged with capital murder and awaits trial. Two others were not implicated in the shooting or accused of any wrongdoing.)

The article, by the reporter Billy Witz, said that Mr. Spears had also been present at the shooting, attributing the knowledge to a single anonymous source. The article said that Mr. Spears had declined to comment and that university officials had not immediately responded to a request for comment.

After publication, Mr. Spears’s father and the university’s athletic department denied that Mr. Spears had been at the shooting. The article was updated with the denials, and The Times continued to stand behind its reporting.

Two months later, Mr. Spears sued The Times. In his complaint, he said he had been out that night with some of the players, but had been back at the Alabama athletes’ dorm by the time the shooting occurred. The lawsuit said The Times’s “false statements will be associated with him for the rest of his life,” and that he had endured mental anguish and death threats.

The Times corrected the article two days later on June 2, 2023, and added an editor’s note. Based on information from Mr. Spears’s lawsuit, the note said, “editors assigned further reporting, which determined that the other person at the scene was not Spears.” The Times also published another article that day reporting that another student was present at the shooting, not Mr. Spears.

During the trial, lawyers for The Times argued that the article was not defamatory because it did not convey that Mr. Spears had been involved in the shooting, even if it incorrectly placed him at the scene. They also argued that Mr. Witz had taken reasonable steps to corroborate his source’s information, including approaching Mr. Spears in person.

Jurors were shown surveillance footage, dashcam footage and text messages that confirmed Mr. Spears was nearby in another car, but not at the scene. He testified that he was heckled at a game the day after the article was published and had been under so much stress that his grades slipped.

On the witness stand, Mr. Witz, the Times reporter, apologized to Mr. Spears. He said he had been confident in his source and had tried to confirm with other sources before talking to a person who told him that the car’s occupant was “a white guy on the basketball team.” That person did not recall the name.

Matt Glover, a lawyer representing Mr. Spears, told the jury in his closing argument that the case gave them “the opportunity today to change the way journalism works at The New York Times.” He claimed Mr. Witz had been so intent on publishing a “sensational” scoop that he had not properly vetted his information.

Mr. Glover asked the jury to award $15 million in damages to Mr. Spears.

Michael Bell, a lawyer for The Times, argued that Mr. Witz and The Times had published the article believing the information from the source was true, and that Mr. Witz had taken steps to verify it.

“There was a mistake, an honest mistake,” Mr. Bell said.