Why Jonathan Majors’ Sentencing Was Delayed Until April and What Could Happen Next: Experts Explain

Jonathan Majors did not appear in court on the day of his scheduled sentencing in the domestic violence case.

Instead, the 34-year-old actor, convicted of assault and harassment in December, appeared virtually by video call for a hearing in which his lawyers delayed sentencing on a routine motion he filed yesterday to overturn the verdict.

The judge plans to rule on the request before a new hearing for the actor is scheduled for Monday, April 8.

In a nearly five-minute hearing in Manhattan on Tuesday, a judge reminded Majors of a protective order barring him from any interactions with his ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari, 31, who testified at trial that he physically assaulted her during a fight that spilled onto the streets of New York. in March 2023.

A timeline of Jonathan Majors’ legal troubles: from his March arrest to his assault trial

Majors told the judge, “Yes, sir.” He leaned back in his chair and the court clerk ended the call.

It was a quick end to a relatively uneventful day in court and one that stands in stark contrast to the whirlwind of the past seven weeks. Since his verdict on December 18, his acting career has taken a devastating turn, losing several of his previously cast roles.

Here, legal experts weigh in on what went wrong for Belief III actor and where he can go from here.

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Jonathan Majors March 12, 2023

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Jonathan Majors’ ex Grace Jabbari thanks organization for supporting domestic violence victims 1 day after guilty verdict

A look at the charges of the convicted

PEOPLE going to trial on misdemeanor assault charges was an unusual choice, with few cases involving higher-level felony charges ever playing out in a courtroom, legal experts say.

In the fall, Majors rolled the dice on an outright conviction in what appeared to be an attempt to save his career, according to entertainment attorney Tre Lovell, who is not connected to the case.

Testifying at the beginning of the actor’s trial, Jabbari described that March evening, saying that after a night out the couple was in a rental car returning to the penthouse they shared when she saw a text message from another woman on Majors’ phone. She said she took the phone from his hands, and Majors then twisted her right arm. As she bent her body “just trying to protect herself”, she said she felt a “really hard blow to the head” that “caught me”.

Eventually, Jabbari went to the hospital and was treated for a hairline fracture in her middle finger and a cut on her ear.

“From a legal perspective, it would be better to enter into a plea agreement,” says Lovell. “Because it would have guaranteed Majors no jail time, kept the evidence used at trial secret – which the press is now trying to uncover – and allowed the matter to disappear from the public eye.”

In a split verdict in December, Majors was convicted of two of the four charges against him: misdemeanor assault in the third degree, recklessly causing bodily harm, as well as harassment in the second degree, the latter of which is a misdemeanor, a charge so minor that Lovell likens it to “a traffic ticket “.

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Jonathan Majors January 20, 2023

Arturo Holmes/2023 Getty

The actor speaks

While the charges, once he is sentenced, could cost him up to a year behind bars, the ramifications for his career were more immediate.

Amid the decline of his career, Majors finally spoke out about his criminal conviction in an interview with ABC News last month, saying he was “absolutely shocked and appalled” by the conviction, insisting his innocence and suggesting the evidence presented at trial did not warrant a conviction.

Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani tells PEOPLE that such an appeal for public sympathy was “probably too little, too late to save Majors’ career.”

“In hindsight, Majors was wrong not to testify,” she says of Majors’ decision not to testify at trial, adding, “If Majors wanted to tell his story, he should have told it to the jurors.”

Instead, during the weeks of the trial, jurors heard from the actor’s ex-girlfriend Jabbari, listened to audio from one of their fights in which Majors declared himself a “big man,” saying he needed “Michelle Obama” or “Coretta Scott King” as would support him, and read text messages from the couple in which Majors instructs Jabbari not to go to the hospital because of an injury from a previous alleged assault.

Now, as the case nears sentencing, Lovell says “the case has had a devastating impact on his career,” but “he can bounce back.”

“Many actors returned after previous convictions and accusations of domestic violence,” he adds.

With a strong PR campaign and charity work, Lovell says Majors can create a “new image” for himself — one that “can replace the image painted by the verdict.”

“But,” he adds, “it will be a process that may take several years.”

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or go to thehotline.org. All calls are free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education