A revision of Jonathan Majors’s domestic assault charge has been revealed and could result in the actor being sentenced to one year in prison if convicted.
On Tuesday morning (May 8), the actor appeared virtually before a Manhattan judge as he continues to contest allegations of domestic abuse of his ex-girlfriend. During the hearing, the District Attorney’s office unveiled a superseding complaint that includes a charge of third degree assault against Majors. The misdemeanor charge holds a maximum penalty of one year in prison or three years probation.
Majors, who did not enter a plea for the additional charge, was reportedly silent for the majority of the proceedings, primarily speaking when addressing the the judge. During the hearing, the 33-year-old star was reminded of the stipulations of the protective order placed against him, which bans him from having any contact with the alleged victim. The judge ordered him to personally appear in court for the case’s next hearing scheduled for June 13. If he fails to show up, a warrant could be issued for his arrest.
“I’m required to inform you that, as you know, if you fail to appear in court on June 13, a warrant can be issued for your arrest within 48 hours and if you’re brought back on the warrant, the next judge can revoke and even set bail. I obviously don’t want that to happen.”
Following the hearing, Majors’ lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, continued to lash out at the District Attorney’s Office for its handling of the case, pointing to evidence provided by Majors’ legal team they believe will vindicate their client of any wrongdoing.
“We have provided the District Attorney with irrefutable evidence that the woman is lying, including video proof showing nothing happened, especially not where she claimed,” Chaudhry told reporters “We did this with the explicit promise from the DA that they would not “fix” their case and change it as we proved the woman is lying.”
The attorney continued to proclaim Majors’ innocence, deeming the legal matter as a “biased” witch hunt against the superstar.
“This is a witch hunt against Jonathan Majors, driven by baseless claims,” Chaudhry said in a statement to Deadline. “Instead of dismissing the allegations in the face of the woman’s clear lies, the DA has adjusted the charges to match the woman’s new lies. To be clear, there are no new charges against Mr. Majors.”
According to Chaudhry, the defense have obtained additional video evidence to help plead their case, but have opted not to release it for strategic purposes. She also accused the responding officers of being biased towards the alleged victim while threatening and “taunting” Majors.
“The criminal justice system is saturated with explicit and implicit bias,” stated Chaudhry. “When Mr. Majors showed a white police officer the injuries the woman caused him, the white officer got in Mr. Majors’ face and taunted him, saying that if the officer were to slap Mr. Majors, the officer wouldn’t break his finger. None of the white officers present investigated the assault of Mr. Majors. Worse, the District Attorney has not indicated any intention to pursue charges against the woman, or even investigate the truth.”
The attorney previously pointed out that they were in full-agreement of the protection order against him being granted and that he “wants nothing to do with the woman who assaulted him” moving forward. Chaudhry also alleges that the responding officers attempted to “coach” the accuser, even suggesting what she should say while filing a report.
The fallout behind the domestic abuse allegations against Majors has impacted his career in a negative manner, as he’s since been dropped by his management team, public relations team, and has lost at least one movie role and two advertisement campaigns. He has also been rumored to have a history of violent and inappropriate behavior, but has yet to be directly accused of any other incidents aside from the pending assault allegations.