JUST AS PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT REVISITING NEW YORK TIMES V. SULLIVAN, WE GET A LIBEL CASE OUT OF ALABAMA: NEW YORK TIMES ATTEMPTS TO BACKTRACK ON REPORTING THAT ALABAMA PLAYER KAI SPEARS WAS AT SCENE OF MURDER FOLLOWING LAWSUIT.

Cooper Lee, a student manager for the Alabama men’s basketball team has revealed that he was the unnamed passenger in Alabama basketball star Brandon Miller’s car at the scene of Jamea Jonae Harris’ murder. Not — as The New York Times ad reported — Alabama guard Kai Spears.

Spears is currently suing The Times, which finds itself in one hell of a pickle.

New York Times writer Billy Witz wrote an article that claimed Spears had been the passenger in Miller’s call. This article was published on March 15. That was two months to the day after the murder that led to the arrest of former Alabama player Darius Miles and accomplice Michael Davis.

From the start, Spears, his father, and the Alabama athletic director all denied the story. However, The Times stood by its reporting.

This week, it was announced that Spears decided to sue the paper implicating him in the matter. Suddenly, The Times decided to take a second look at its reporting.

Instead of involving a segregationist police commissioner trying to silence out-of-state media, this case is a big corporation spreading lies about a young man. Both in Alabama. Ironic if this turned out to be the vehicle the Supreme Court used to overturn Sullivan.

My recent piece on that case is here.