BECKLEY, W.Va. — Beckley attorney Stephen P. New and his legal team have secured a $9.25 million federal jury verdict against the New York Times Company in a defamation case involving former University of Alabama basketball player Kai Spears.
An eight‑person federal jury in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, ruled in Spears’ favor after a nine‑day trial, finding the newspaper liable for defamation and false‑light invasion of privacy. The lawsuit stemmed from a 2023 New York Times article that reported Spears — then an 18‑year‑old freshman — was present at the scene of a deadly shooting. Spears consistently maintained he was not there.
Spears’ father, Christian Spears, who was serving as Marshall University’s athletic director at the time, contacted New within an hour of the article’s publication. The New York Times later issued a correction after Spears filed suit.
Following more than five hours of deliberation, jurors awarded $750,000 for defamation and $8.5 million for false‑light invasion of privacy, including $1 million in compensatory damages and $7.5 million in punitive damages.
The case remained active for more than three years and involved extensive discovery and complex media‑law questions. According to the Associated Press, this marks the first time in more than 50 years that the New York Times has lost a defamation lawsuit over one of its articles.
