Majors: Ax my conviction
Actor makes plea as domestic violence sentence looms
Disgraced Hollywood actor Jonathan Majors’ effort to set aside the guilty verdict in his domestic violence case should be rejected, Manhattan prosecutors argued in new court filings.
A jury on Dec. 18 found Majors, 34, guilty of third-degree reckless assault and second-degree harassment stemming from a March 25 altercation with his ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari in the back of a private car traveling through lower Manhattan.
Ahead of his sentencing set for April 8, the actor asked Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Michael Gaffey to set aside the guilty verdict, arguing prosecutors lacked sufficient evidence to support his harassment conviction, among other arguments.
Asking Gaffey to reject Majors’ request in its entirety, Assistant District Attorney Kelli Galaway said the actor’s repeated claims that he was trying to escape Jabbari were proven false by trial evidence.
“The defendant’s intent is clear on its face, as the act of grabbing your significant other by their arms, lifting them up in the air, and repeatedly shoving them, forcefully, into the back seat of a car, after having just assaulted them, is intended to harass, annoy or alarm the recipient of that force,” Galaway wrote.
“As such, the jury had sufficient evidence to determine that the defendant committed harassment in the second degree.”
Majors also argued that testimony by the private car driver and sole witness, Naveed Sarwar, undermined his reckless assault conviction. The driver testified that he initially thought Jabbari was the aggressor based on what he heard from the front seat.
“Mr. Sarwar told the jury he heard what sounded like a struggle in the back seat, but he did not see anything,” Galaway wrote.
“None of that testimony is inconsistent with a jury returning a verdict convicting the defendant of recklessly assaulting Ms. Jabbari.”
In devastating testimony at the trial over several days, Jabbari, a British choreographer, said her then-boyfriend had a violent reaction when she took his phone from his hands during the car ride after seeing a flirtatious text from another woman on his screen.
Jurors saw photos of Jabbari’s broken finger and a large cut behind her ear and viewed surveillance footage of the altercation in the back seat spilling into traffic near the intersection of Canal and Centre Sts.
Police arrested Majors the morning after the incident at the couple’s Chelsea penthouse, where he had called 911 after arriving home and finding Jabbari injured.
The pair parted ways after the fight in the cab, with the actor staying in a hotel and Jabbari going out for a few hours to a club with passersby who witnessed the incident’s aftermath. Majors’ lawyers sought to paint Jabbari as an unstable party girl in their defense.
Jabbari said the incident was one of several aggressive encounters with Majors that played out throughout their 19-month relationship, alleging Majors had hurled candles and household objects at her during one nasty blowout in California the year before.
Jurors also saw incriminating text messages Majors sent Jabbari in September 2022, in which he appeared to admit to a separate assault and tried to persuade her not to seek medical attention.
The Manhattan incident derailed the up-and-coming Hollywood star’s acting career, with Marvel and Disney dropping him from all projects after the verdict.
His lawyers did not respond to a request seeking comment.