Jonathan Majors will stand trial on domestic violence charges after a New York judge denied a motion to dismiss the case. The trial is set to begin on 29 November.
Majors appeared via Zoom in a lower Manhattan courtroom on Wednesday morning because he’s out of state.
During the hearing, his defence attorneys filed a motion to keep “disputed evidence” sealed and out of the public eye due to the “high profile” nature of the case and the allegations against Majors. Defence lawyer Seth Zuckerman told Judge Michael Gaffey that he believed “the disclosure of sensitive information will limit Mr Majors’ right to a fair trial”. The judge did not rule on the motion, telling reporters in the courtroom they had until 6 November to file papers opposing it.
Following Wednesday’s decision, a spokesman for the Manhattan district attorney’s office said in a statement: “We look forward to presenting our case at trial.
The Marvel actor was arrested in Manhattan on March 25 and charged with assault and aggravated harassment following an alleged domestic dispute with his then-girlfriend, Grace Jabbari. Majors has pleaded not guilty to the four charges. If convicted of the harassment and assault charges, he could face up to a year in prison.
Ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office filed a 115-page response to the actor’s motion to dismiss the case. The document alleges that Majors’ legal team leaked and misrepresented court evidence and tried to get police to create a wanted poster with Jabbari’s photo.
At the time of her arrest, Jabbari told officers that she had been assaulted and taken to hospital with “minor head and neck injuries” after an alleged altercation in a taxi. Defence lawyers for Majors claimed that it was Jabbari who assaulted Majors and “not the other way around”. His team also suggested that “racial bias” played a role in the investigation, calling the case a “witch hunt” against the Emmy-nominated actor.
As his first court date approached, more of Majors’ alleged victims came forward and cooperated with the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
Priya Chaudhry, one of Majors’ defence attorneys, claims to have evidence that clears Majors of any wrongdoing, including surveillance video showing Jabbari “completely unharmed” after the defendant’s alleged assault. But the prosecution’s latest filing contradicts this claim, saying that “the surveillance video referred to by the defence actually shows Ms Jabbari visibly upset, crying and asking strangers for help to get an Uber taxi home”.
In April, Jabbari was granted a temporary order of protection, which means the two parties cannot have any direct or third-party contact. The order remains in place.
In the wake of the allegations, Majors has been dropped from feature film projects and dropped by his PR team at The Lede Company, as well as his management, Entertainment 360. The actor is still represented by WME. He stars in the upcoming drama “Magazine Dreams”, which is still scheduled for release in December. He also has a major role as the villainous Kang the Conqueror in the current phase of Disney’s sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe.
