The high school quarterback at the center of a Baldwin County man’s four-year campaign now plays for the University of Texas. The man who pursued him testified Friday that he only ever wanted the state athletic association to do its job.
Testimony continued in the non-jury civil trial of John Quinnelly Sr., accused of making defamatory and libelous statements about the 2022 transfer of quarterback KJ Lacey from Daphne High School to Saraland High School.
How the Case Got Here
The dispute began with a lawsuit filed by the Saraland school system against Quinnelly. The system accused him of spreading falsehoods on social media and to news organizations about Lacey’s eligibility.
That suit settled in 2023.
This week’s trial concerns a separate set of claims — brought by the Lacey family against Quinnelly and Eric Winberg, the private investigator Quinnelly hired to look into his suspicion that the Laceys had not actually moved to Saraland and that KJ Lacey was therefore ineligible to play.
A state board regulating private investigators fined Winberg after determining he entered private property without permission during his surveillance.
Quinnelly’s Account
Quinnelly, who owns a company that manufactures metal buildings, testified for the second time in the trial Friday.
He said his goal was simply to get the Alabama High School Athletic Association to properly investigate Lacey’s eligibility.
Asked by his own attorney whether he recognized that the AHSAA board had the final say, he answered: “Yes, sir.”
He also described a personal history with the association’s enforcement. Quinnelly testified that the AHSAA determined his own son was ineligible in 2019 and forced Daphne High School to forfeit a game. He said he wanted the association to apply its rules evenly, and did not believe it was doing so.
On why he hired an investigator rather than pursuing the matter himself, he said: “I didn’t want it to come from me. I wanted it to come from a professional.”
The Cross-Examination
Elizabeth Citrin, an attorney for the Lacey family, pressed the argument that Quinnelly did considerably more than raise a question.
She reminded him of earlier testimony covering his social media posts and messages to news organizations — material in which he called the Lacey family “100 percent guilty” and described it as “indisputable” that they had violated the rules.
That language sits at the center of the case. Asking an association to investigate is one act. Publishing a verdict before the association reaches one is a different act, and the second is what a defamation claim is built on.
Quinnelly held to his framing.
“None of this would have happened if they had just done their job and investigated,” he said. “That’s all my intent was.”
‘The Lacey Family Was Just Your Weapon of Choice?’
Quinnelly testified that he sympathizes with the Laceys, and suggested they were also victims of the state athletic association.
Citrin turned that around.
“So the Lacey family was just your weapon of choice?” she asked.
“The Laceys weren’t my weapon of anything,” Quinnelly responded.
The exchange captures the dispute precisely. Quinnelly’s position is that the association was his target and the Laceys were incidental. The family’s position is that the association was never harmed by any of it and they were.
The Private Investigator
Winberg is a defendant alongside Quinnelly.
The state board regulating private investigators determined he entered private property without permission while conducting surveillance, and fined him for it.
That finding is significant to the family’s claims because it establishes, through an independent regulator, that the investigation did not stay within lawful bounds — separate from whatever the surveillance did or did not find.
What the Judge Decides
Because there is no jury, the judge will determine whether the plaintiffs are entitled to damages.
A bench trial in a defamation case turns on questions a judge is well positioned to weigh: whether the statements were factual assertions rather than opinion, whether they were false, what the defendant knew or should have known, and what harm followed.
Quinnelly’s own testimony supplies material on both sides. He conceded the AHSAA board had final authority — which cuts against the idea that his declarations of guilt were preliminary. He also testified to a consistent and stated purpose of forcing an investigation.
Where Lacey Is Now
KJ Lacey plays college football for the University of Texas.
The transfer that generated four years of litigation happened in 2022. The quarterback completed his high school career, was recruited by a major program, and has moved on.
His family’s claims are still being heard in a Mobile courtroom.