Jonathan Majors — known as the supervillain in the Marvel franchise — will tackle a more uncomfortable role on Monday when a New York City jury begins hearing evidence in his domestic assault case.
The 34-year-old actor will appear in a lower Manhattan courtroom as a defendant in a criminal trial where his ex-girlfriend will face him on charges he assaulted her while riding in a Chinatown cab earlier this year.
Grace Jabbari, a British dancer and movement coach, will testify that her ex assaulted her when he grabbed her cell phone after reading a text — possibly from another woman — that read “I wish I kissed you right now,” Manhattan prosecutors said.
The six jurors and two alternates deciding the case will hear two very different narratives during opening statements Monday morning about what happened at about midnight on March 25 in a car on Canal Street — just blocks from the courthouse in where two weeks- the trial will take place.
Majors had attended a previous court appearance with his new girlfriend, actress and model Meagan Good. Matthew McDermott
In the prosecution’s statement, Majors – then a fast-rising Hollywood star – responded to Jabbari grabbing her phone by pulling her fingers, twisting her arm back, hitting her ear and then picking her up and throwing her into a taxi after he tried to follow her out.
He was also initially charged with strangling Jabbari, but prosecutors later dropped the stranglehold charge due to lack of evidence.
But Majors, who has pleaded not guilty to six counts of misdemeanor assault and three counts of misdemeanor harassment, has insisted that Jabbari was the aggressor.
In June, three months after his arrest, Majors walked into the NYPD’s 10th Precinct and gave evidence to detectives that an “intoxicated and hysterical” Jabbari had grabbed and scratched his face that night — drawing blood, his attorney said in court papers. .
The major’s attorneys have also released videos they say cast doubt on the extent of Jabbari’s injuries, including footage of Jabbari twirling around his allegedly broken finger and drinking champagne at Loosie’s nightclub on the Bowery hours after the altercation.
Jabbari is expected to take the stand at some point this week in Manhattan Criminal Court – and whether a jury believes he can decide Majors’ fate.
“This case is really about someone’s credibility,” said Priya Chaudhry, an attorney for Majors, during a pre-trial hearing last week.
Jabbari’s testimony could make or break the case. BrosNYC / BACKGRID
Jabbari was eventually arrested for his role in the altercation as well after 10th Precinct detectives found it likely that he had attacked Majors, but the DA’s office quickly tossed the case for what it called a “lack of prosecutorial merit.”
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Criminal Court Judge Michael Gaffey has ruled that Majors’ lawyers will be allowed to cross-examine Jabbari about his arrest, over objections from prosecutors.
But the judge called the circumstances of Jabbari’s detention “extremely unusual” and suggested that Majors may have been given special treatment because of his celebrity status.
“There are individuals who pass through this court every day who are indigent and accused of crimes. “I don’t believe I’ve ever witnessed, three months later, an indigent person asking for the arrest of the complainant, and then the complainant was actually arrested,” Gaffey said during the hearing last week.
“Is this just because of the high-profile nature of this case?” Gaffey added. “And if these were indigent New Yorkers, would this have happened?”
Meanwhile, the lead attorney accused prosecutors of having tunnel vision about their client and targeting him because of his race.
“Instead of dismissing false accusations against an innocent Black man, the People instead deliberately withheld evidence of his innocence” and “concealed evidence that proved his accusers lied,” lawyers have alleged in court papers.
Majors this year starred as the villain Kang the Conqueror in Marvel’s “Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania” and co-starred with Michael B. Jordan in “Creed III.”
The lead attorney has cited a rough video of Jabbari drinking and dancing in a nightclub on the night of the episode as evidence that his injuries were not serious. Court documents
Critics have also praised his performance as an obsessive aspiring bodybuilder in the dark character study “Magazine Dreams,” which made its debut to rave reviews at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
But the film’s release date was postponed indefinitely after news of Majors’ arrest broke.
The actor had appeared in court wearing a double-breasted suit, carrying a gold-leaf bible and with his new girlfriend, actress Meagan Good, by his side.
It was unclear as of Monday morning whether Majors would testify in his own defense.
He will be given the choice of whether to do so after prosecutors finish presenting their case.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
