Actor Jonathan Majors’ sentencing on charges he attacked his former girlfriend in the back of a New York chauffeured car has been delayed.
Majors, 34, was set to be sentenced in Manhattan criminal court on Tuesday on misdemeanor third-degree assault and second-degree harassment charges in connection with the March 25, 2023 incident with his ex, Grace Jabbari. Instead, Majors’ legal team asked for a delay on Tuesday afternoon, citing a Monday motion they filed to set aside the verdict.
Judge Michael Gaffey accepted the delay and set a new sentencing date for April 8.
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In the motion reviewed by The Daily Beast, defense lawyers argued Majors’ guilty verdict should be vacated, in part, because the prosecution did not have sufficient evidence. It also claims that the court presented inconsistent assault counts for the jury before deliberations. Prosecutors have until next month to respond to the defense motion.
Majors appeared in court via video link, waved at his attorney before the hearing began, and nodded as Gaffey discussed the delay. He faces up to a year in prison for the misdemeanor and violation.
“The Court has already heard and rejected the arguments supporting this motion when the defense originally raised them during the trial,” a Manhattan District Attorney’s Office spokesperson told The Daily Beast. “The jury then convicted Mr. Majors of Assault in the 3rd Degree and Harassment in the 2nd Degree. We will respond in detail in court papers.”
In December, Majors was found guilty after a nine-day trial, where prosecutors alleged Majors attacked Jabbari as the two were headed home from a night out in Brooklyn. While on the stand, Jabbari said that she took Majors’ phone after viewing a concerning text conversation between the actor and someone named “Cleopatra.” In response, she said, Majors threw himself on top of Jabbari to take back the phone and placed her arm behind her back.
“He was trying to hurt me,” Jabbari said on the stand.
Defense attorneys for Majors insisted during the trial that Jabbari was the aggressor in the altercation. The driver in the case also testified at trial that Majors was “not doing anything” in the car and Jabbari was “doing everything.”
After his conviction, Marvel Studios parted ways with Majors, who played Kang the Conqueror in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In an ABC interview last month, Majors plans to appeal the verdict that he admits left him shocked. He has maintained his innocence but admitted he was “reckless” with Jabbari’s heart.
“I shouldn’t have been in the car,” Majors said after he was asked if he felt responsible for any of Jabbari’s injuries. “I shouldn’t have stepped out of the relationship. I shouldn’t have been in the relationship.”
