AP Photo/John Minchillo
Jonathan Majors’ domestic violence trial is set to begin on Wednesday, when a judge is expected to decide whether to unseal statements from the Marvel star’s ex-girlfriends about alleged physical and/or emotional abuse and admit them into court, Rolling Stone reports has experienced.
Majors was arrested in New York in March on assault, attempted assault and harassment charges for allegedly punching his then-girlfriend during a fight and pushing her into a car. (Rolling Stone is choosing not to name the woman because prosecutors consider her a victim.) Majors has denied the allegations and claimed the woman attacked him.
As part of prosecutors’ case, other women’s statements about their alleged abusive relationships with Majors were prepared as Molineux evidence – a legal term that allows prosecutors to use previous events to prove that a defendant’s behavior was “inseparable.” associated with it.” the accused acts.” Their statements are currently under seal.
In a 115-page motion in October, prosecutors noted that they had alerted Majors’ team to the Molineux motion, which “contained a list of the defendant’s misconduct and criminal acts not charged in the criminal complaint, But the people want to institute a trial in her case.” (A spokesman for the DA’s office declined to comment. Majors’ attorney, Priya Chaudhry, did not respond to Rolling Stone’s request for comment.)
The package is also believed to include previous physical encounters between Majors and the woman at the center of the case. Court documents show prosecutors received a police report about a September 2022 incident in London in which the woman received medical attention. Earlier this month, London’s Metropolitan Police confirmed to Rolling Stone that there was an ongoing investigation into the incident, which included allegations of “physical assault.”
According to a dozen sources who knew the women, Rolling Stone reported in June that Majors had been physically and/or emotionally abusive to two former romantic partners. Nine of those sources allege that Majors strangled a woman he was dating and psychologically and emotionally abused her. The second woman allegedly told friends that her relationship with Majors was “emotional torture” and that there were moments of “near-violence” where he was “filled with anger” and “hit something or a wall.” Variety previously reported that some of Majors’ former romantic partners who were allegedly abused by him cooperated in the prosecutor’s case. (Majors denied that he was ever abusive in any relationship.)
Editor favorites
The hurdle to admitting Molineux evidence in court is extremely high given its potentially damaging effects and claims often not being prosecuted. However, Molineux evidence was recently admitted into court during the criminal trial of Harvey Weinstein in New York. Three women who were not part of the prosecution’s case were allowed to testify about their experiences with the disgraced producer and demonstrated a similar pattern of behavior.
Majors faces up to a year in prison if convicted of this charge, and the future of his career is in limbo. The theatrical release of his sensational performance as a lonely bodybuilder with violent fantasies in “Magazine Dreams” has been postponed indefinitely and Marvel’s Avengers: The Kang Dynasty has lost its director, Destin Daniel Cretton.
It’s been eight months since Majors was arrested on March 25 following a dispute over his cellphone after his then-girlfriend allegedly saw the actor receive a text message that read, “I wish I kissed you now.” The two had been traveling in a car together when the woman reached for the phone and Majors allegedly twisted her arm and hit her, according to her police report.
Related
Majors got out of the car and when his girlfriend tried to follow him, he allegedly grabbed her, picked her up and threw her back into the car. According to prosecutors, the woman suffered “significant pain, including a broken finger, bruising all over her body, a laceration behind her right ear and a bump on her head.” Majors was arrested after he returned home the next morning and allegedly found the woman unresponsive and called police.
Trending
Through his lawyer Priya Chaudhry, Majors has vehemently denied the allegations. It was Majors who was attacked that night, Chaudhry claimed, further describing the prosecutor’s case against the actor as a “witch hunt.” Chaudhry pointed to leaked surveillance footage of the fight’s aftermath as supposed evidence of Majors’ innocence. In June, Majors himself filed a police report against the woman.
However, prosecutors declined to press charges against the woman and closed the case after she volunteered at a police station to receive an appearance ticket. “The facts of this case have been thoroughly investigated, and in doing so, the People have decided to prosecute Jonathan Majors,” court documents state.