An 8-person federal jury just told the New York Times to write a check for $9.25 million to a former University of Alabama basketball player named Kai Spears. The charge: they published a story in March 2023 that said Spears was in the vehicle with teammate Brandon Miller at the scene of Jamea Harris's shooting death in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in January 2023.
Spears wasn't in the vehicle. He wasn't at the scene. The Times got it wrong, published it anyway, and a 9-day trial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama just confirmed what Spears has been saying for over three years.
The article was written by New York Times sportswriter Billy Witz. According to trial testimony, Witz said he trusted a source who described the passenger in Miller's vehicle as "a white guy on the basketball team." That was enough, apparently, for the paper of record to name Kai Spears and permanently connect him to a murder in print.
Jamea Harris was 23 years old when she was killed. The story was a legitimate national news event. But writing about a murder and falsely identifying someone as being at the scene are two very different things — a distinction the Times's editorial process evidently couldn't handle.
The paper eventually added an editor's note acknowledging it had "erroneously identified" Spears. But the damage was already baked in. Spears's attorneys argued at trial that the article caused severe emotional distress and "permanently linked his name to the murder." He was heckled at games after the story ran. His father and the Alabama athletic director both denied his presence at the scene before publication — and were ignored.
Times spokesman Charlie Stadtander said the paper is "disappointed the jury found The Times liable for an honest mistake." He added: "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." The Times says it is "reviewing its legal options."
Times attorney Michael Bell echoed the framing during trial: "There was a mistake, an honest mistake."
An "honest mistake" is misspelling someone's name. Placing a college kid at a murder scene based on a physical description from a single source — after his own father and the university denied it — is something else entirely. That's a process failure. And the jury saw it that way.
Spears's legal team had asked for $15 million. The jury landed at $9.25 million. It is reportedly the first time in 50 years that the New York Times has lost a defamation case. Half a century of legal invincibility, ended by a sportswriter who didn't make a second phone call.
The Times has spent the last decade lecturing the country about misinformation, accountability, and the sacred role of journalism in a democracy. They've run thousands of words about the dangers of unverified claims spreading online.
Turns out the call was coming from inside the newsroom.
