A criminal defamation charge against an East Limestone High School student who faked a news report about a teacher is being dropped because Alabama's defamation statute was previously ruled to be unconstitutional.

Tyler Marquis Harris, 18, of Athens is accused of last month faking a news story about a teacher having a sexual relationship with a student. Harris admitted to investigators that he put the teacher's picture on a real news story about a different faculty member having sex with a student, then shared it in a group message with most of the senior class.

The teacher notified the school's SRO and principal when he learned of the false claims against him. Harris was arrested and charged on Monday.

The only problem was, Alabama's defamation statute was ruled to be unconstitutional in 2001 by the state Supreme Court.

Limestone County District Attorney Brian Jones told AL.com Thursday afternoon that his office is in the process of dismissing the charge against Harris, a senior at East Limestone.

Jones said Harris was arrested after a magistrate found probable cause that he violated the statute, which had been found unconstitutional in the context of false statements made about public officials. The Alabama Supreme Court held that the 125-year-old statute was unconstitutional because it lacked a requirement of "actual malice," a standard established by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1964.

The law has never been repealed by the Legislature, however, and the Code of Alabama, issued by the state and used by law enforcement officers and magistrates when filing charges, still contains the law.

Stephen Young, a spokesman for the Limestone County Sheriff's Office, confirmed that the criminal code book used by that agency still shows defamation as being a valid criminal charge. It also remains intact on the Alabama Legislature's website that details the Code of Alabama, known as ALISON.

"It's not redacted in the current books, and those are generally kept up to date," Young said.

Ultimately, Jones said, the decision whether to prosecute Harris rests with his office. After reviewing the statute and the Supreme Court's findings in 2001, he said, he feels that the law does not provide a "workable framework" to prosecute an individual for defamation without potentially infringing on that person's freedom of speech.

"Although the private speech here was deeply offensive and potentially harmful, until the Legislature amends Alabama's defamation statute, there does not appear to be a criminal remedy for such conduct," Jones said. "Therefore, the action brought against Mr. Harris will be dismissed and there will be no further action on the current allegation."

It was not immediately known what punishment the teen faces from the school district. Young said that Harris told investigators he'd altered the news story as a joke.

He said the teacher, whose name is being withheld by AL.com, was never the subject of a criminal investigation.

That was not the case with two teacher's aides at the school, Trey Alton Stinson and Devin Rumal Robinson, who were arrested last month amid accusations they had sex with female students. They were placed on administrative leave with pay, but Stinson subsequently resigned his post.

Robinson was fired Tuesday night at a school board meeting. Both men still face criminal charges.

It was a news story about one of those defendants that Harris used in his prank against the other teacher.