TUSCALOOSA, AL — A federal judge has denied summary judgment motions from both former Alabama basketball player Kai Spears and the New York Times, allowing Spears’ defamation and false light lawsuit against the newspaper to head to a jury trial.
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In a 19-page memorandum opinion issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge Annemarie Carney Axon ruled that genuine issues of material fact remain regarding whether the New York Times falsely portrayed Spears as being involved in the fatal January 2023 shooting near The Strip that claimed the life of Jamea Harris.
As Patch previously reported, the lawsuit stems from a March 2023 New York Times article titled, “A Fourth Alabama Player Was at a Deadly Shooting, in a Car Hit by Bullets.”
Spears contends the article incorrectly reported that he was in former Alabama basketball standout and eventual No. 2 overall pick in the NBA Draft Brandon Miller’s vehicle and at the scene when the shooting occurred.