The actor from Marvel was charged with misdemeanor assault, aggravated harassment, and harassment infraction.
Marvel actor Jonathan Majors was convicted guilty of third-degree reckless assault and harassment by a New York jury.
A six-person jury rendered the decision on Monday, THR reports, following about four hours of deliberation over the course of three days. As the verdict was read, Jonathan Majors, dressed in a grey suit, black dress shirt, and tie, sat with his counsel, flanked by his girlfriend Meagan Good and family. He was judged not guilty of second-degree aggravated harassment and not guilty of third-degree deliberate assault. The sentencing date is February 6.
Majors contacted 911 on March 25 and claimed to have discovered his ex-partner, Grace Jabbari, unconscious in their apartment. He was charged with four counts of assault, aggravated harassment, and harassment. Majors was taken into custody by the police when they discovered Jabbari with visible wounds, such as a cut behind her ear and a broken and bruised finger. Majors entered a not guilty plea to every allegation.
During the first four days of the trial, Jabbari testified that Majors was the one who had caused the injuries during an incident in the automobile a few hours prior. She stated in her testimony that the purported incident happened in a private vehicle when she noticed Majors' phone with the text, "Oh how I wish to be kissing you." Majors allegedly peeled Jabbari's finger off the phone, seized her arm and right hand, twisted her forearm, and smacked her head in an attempt to take the phone away from her.
The first three accusations pertain to alleged actions in the car and are misdemeanor offenses. The fourth harassment accusation, the most minor of the four, is based on an allegation that Majors threw Jabbari back into the car when she attempted to get out. According to the defence, he put her back in the car to prevent her from rushing into oncoming traffic. Surveillance footage shows that activity, however the altercation inside the automobile was not recorded.
It was not Jabbari who filed the accusations against Majors; rather, it was the state of New York. Since this was a criminal trial rather than a civil trial, the jury had a greater burden of proof because they had to determine each charge's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The biggest year of Majors' career—which featured starring parts in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Creed III, and Loki season two—has already been impacted by the arrest. Following his arrest, he was fired by managers at Management 360 and his publicity company, the Lede Company, and Disney-owned Searchlight Features withdrew Magazine Dreams from its release schedule.
Prosecutors presented this as an instance of domestic abuse throughout the trial, but the defense questioned Jabbari's reliability and framed it as an ex-retaliation. Throughout the two-week trial, Majors made in-person appearances every day, accompanied by Good and family members. He didn't testify during the trial and didn't display any emotion—that is, until his lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, started crying during her closing remarks and said, "His fear of what happens when a Black man in America calls 911 came true."
Using the shredded coat of Majors and the fact that Jabbari can be seen on surveillance footage chasing Majors down the street following the first reported altercation in the car as evidence, Chaudhry argued in his defence that Jabbari was the aggressor in the automobile. Jabbari claimed that she chased after him to ascertain the sender of the message.
Chaudhry went on to say that Jabbari was hurt, but that she was able to use her wounded right hand after leaving the car and going "revenge partying" at a club, where she used Majors' credit card to purchase champagne. Jabbari stated in her deposition that following the initial conflict in the car, she had gone to three strangers for assistance on the street. They then extended an invitation to a club, which she accepted in order to find solace for the purported occurrence.
It was hinted by Chaudhry that Jabbari had hurt herself later, following an evening of drinking, before going back to their shared residence and taking sleeping pills. Majors, who had checked into a hotel after abandoning the car, reported that he saw Jabbari unconscious when he returned to the apartment early the next morning and dialed 911.
Apart from the video surveillance footage that featured Jabbari at the club, the prosecutors presented the jury with evidence that included pictures Jabbari took of her cut behind her ear and bruised hand while she was back at the apartment, as well as body-camera footage captured by the officers when they arrived.
Additionally, a number of messages that the prosecution entered into evidence regarding various alleged incidents that allegedly occurred during Majors and Jabbari's relationship could be detrimental to Majors' reputation. They claimed there was a history of abuse, which accounted for Jabbari's delay in reporting Majors' involvement in the injuries to police.
Majors seemed to discourage Jabbari from getting medical help for an injury in one of the texts sent with her in September 2022 (how she got the injury wasn't mentioned). Majors wrote, "They will question you, and even if you do lie and they suspect something, it could lead to an investigation as I don't think you protect us."
Originally declared inadmissible, these messages were eventually given to the jury by the prosecutors in response to a series of cross-examination questions posed by Majors' defense team, which Judge Michael Gaffey described as "lack of specificity."
The recording, which Jabbari claimed she made of Majors during a previous argument in September 2022, was also played by the prosecution. In it, the actor chastised Jabbari for drinking and then going back to their house with her friend, telling her to "live up to the standards of Coretta Scott King and Michelle Obama" and declaring, "I am a great man."
The jury was told not to consider this evidence of a criminal inclination, but rather background knowledge.