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Published December 14, 2023, 5:52 p.m. ET
Jonathan Majors picked up his then-girlfriend “like she was a doll” and pushed her into the back seat of an SUV when she found out he had cheated on her, a prosecutor described at the actor's Manhattan trial Thursday – before the jury began to weigh his fate.
In her closing statement, Assistant District Attorney Kelli Galaway argued that a video showing Majors “going on tiptoes to gain as much leverage as possible” before pushing Jabbari back into her car service was incontrovertible evidence of his conviction because of a harassment allegation.
The 34-year-old actor, who played supervillain Kang the Conqueror in Marvel's Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, broke down in tears as his own defense attorney accused his ex Grace Jabbari of telling “white lies, big lies.” , and pretty little lies” as part of a criminal prosecution that the lawyer claimed was racially motivated.
“His fear of what would happen if a black man in America called 911 has come true,” Priya Chaudhry said outside Manhattan Criminal Court as Majors, wearing a black suit and black tie, reached out to him with a handkerchief wiping tears from her cheeks.
Jonathan Majors goes to court with his current girlfriend Meagan Good. AP
Majors was arrested in March when police discovered injuries to 30-year-old Jabbari after the actor called them to his Chelsea apartment the morning after the private car argument that broke out when prosecutors said Jabbari took his phone to view a flirty text message from a woman named “Cleopatra.”
During four grueling days of testimony – which included several instances in which a sobbing Jabbari left the witness stand for a break – the British dancer and movement coach told jurors that Majors gave me “a hard blow to the head,” her Finger removed from his phone and twisted her arm behind her back in the fight.
Bodycam footage from Jonathan Majors' trial shows police questioning his accuser Grace Jabbari at the actor's Chelsea apartment. Manhattan District Attorney
Surveillance video from the scene showed Majors picking up Jabbari and pushing her several times back into the black Cadillac Escalade after it stopped in Chinatown.
The video shows Jabbari eventually following Majors out of the SUV to the corner of Center and Canal Streets, where he reached out to push her away before sprinting away – as she chased him for several blocks.
The other two charges Majors faces for intentionally and recklessly assaulting Jabbari relate to the portion of the altercation that occurred in the back seat of the Cadillac Escalade, rather than outside of it.
Surveillance video showed Majors picking Jabbari up and pushing her back into the black Cadillac Escalade several times. Manhattan District Attorney / MEGA
The six jurors began deliberating around 3:30 p.m., and Majors' fate will likely be decided by whether the panel believes Jabbari's account of what happened that night.
The only witness to the alleged attack, the driver of the car, told jurors that he did not see what happened because he was looking “straight ahead” at the road.
The driver said he had a “feeling” that Jabbari was the attacker, but also said he was paid by the majors and admitted he had known the actor before.
Jonathan Majors and his girlfriend Meagan Good arrive at the courthouse today. Steven Hirsch
The driver's testimony “shows that he is a biased witness against the man who paid him,” Galaway, the prosecutor, said Thursday.
The ADA also presented evidence of Majors' past behavior that emerged during the two-week trial – including that he asked Jabbari not to go to the hospital after she was injured in a separate incident in September 2022 – to gloss over the alleged assault as the culmination of a months-long campaign of “manipulation and abuse.”
Majors threatened to kill herself after Jabbari responded to the “Loki” star that she would “tell the doctor I hit my head,” according to trial evidence.
The suicide threat “was not a mental health crisis,” Galaway said Thursday.
A court drawing by Majors. Jane Rosenberg
“This was a strategically planned tactic to ensure Ms. Jabbari was compliant,” she added.
Chaudhry, meanwhile, accused Jabbari of a “revenge party” after the alleged attack in March by going to a club with a group of bystanders who offered to help her.
The defense attorney drew the jury's attention to footage of Jabbari clinking champagne glasses, pushing her hair back and signing a check with her right hand, even though she testified that Majors broke her right middle finger when he pulled it out of her phone has.
Footage showed Jabbari chasing Majors through a Manhattan street. Manhattan District Attorney / MEGA
“You can’t destroy people’s lives with your fantasies,” Chaudhry said of Jabbari.
Chaudhry also emphasized that Jabbari was the one who was seen on camera chasing Majors after the alleged assault – which Jabbari testified was because she was angry about Majors' alleged betrayal and wanted answers.
“She didn’t act like she was okay with being cheated on,” Galaway said Thursday. “All she focused on was her despair over the infidelity.”
Jonathan Majors, accompanied by his girlfriend Meagan Good, enters a courtroom at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse in New York, Thursday, December 14, 2023. AP
“I maintain that Ms. Jabbari testified openly,” the prosecutor added. “When she didn’t know the answer, she said she didn’t know.”
“She told you as many details as she could about what happened in a brief encounter.”
Majors faces up to a year in prison if convicted.
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