New York Times Brandon Miller defamation lawsuit
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New York Times loses defamation suit, ordered to pay $9.25M to former Alabama basketball player
The New York Times stated that it had not lost a domestic defamation lawsuit over an article in over 50 years prior to this verdict.
The New York Times published an editor's note to the report in June 2023 after Spears filed a defamation lawsuit.
Spears was falsely identified in a March 2023 New York Times report as a passenger in a car at the scene of a fatal January 2023 shooting that killed Jamea Harris.
“Based on information from a person familiar with the case, the article erroneously identified that person as Kai Spears, a freshman basketball player. After the article was initially published, Alabama’s athletic director and Spears’s father denied that Spears was present. The Times included those responses and reviewed its reporting, but did not conclude that any other change to the article was warranted at that time.”
Former Alabama Basketball Player Wins $9.25M Defamation Verdict Against New York Times
The New York Times reported that it had not lost a defamation lawsuit brought in the United States over one of its articles in more than 50 years.
An Alabama jury awarded $9.25 million in damages after finding that the New York Times defamed college basketball player Kai Spears by incorrectly reporting he was at the scene of a fatal shooting.
The jury delivered its verdict after a nine-day trial.
“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.”