Jonathan Majors‘ assault trial began this week after months of lead-up, including some questionably released text messages, which didn’t present the best look from whomever decided to release them. Actually, that would reportedly be Majors’ lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, who does not appear to be otherwise impressing the judge on Major’s case.
To briefly recap, this case surrounds allegations made by ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari, following a March dispute that turned violent. Cops who attended to Jabbari the next day arrested Majors after observing injuries to her hand and a laceration near her ear, and Jabbari’s court testimony so far has included claims that she hoped police would help her, but she was also afraid of how Majors would be treated if she had initially reported the incident to law enforcement. Jabbari also related how she had taken sleeping pills after being too uncomfortable to sleep due to her injuries, and Majors’ team has insisted that she was the violent participant in the altercation.
Court proceedings have been predictably adversarial, but part of that has to do with the information presumably released by Majors’ team to the press so far. That has included not only those text messages but also a tip-off about police arresting Jabbari on allegations of criminal mischief/assault with the DA declining to prosecute charges. As well, Jabbari made reference during Wednesday testimony to how Chaudhry apparently released photos to the press in an attempt to prove that she was partying (Jabbari insisted that she was seeking comfort from friends) and therefore not injured.
Things got even messier in court on Wednesday when Chaudhry — for reasons unknown — decided to bring up Jabbari’s ex-boyfriend who reportedly committed suicide many years ago. This led Jabbari to leave the courtroom in tears, after which the judge seemed to be completely over Chaudhry’s questioning about the alleged “partying” photos:
Following the question about the high school boyfriend who Chaudhry claimed had died by suicide — the relevance of which was never made clear because the judge ensured the subject was subsequently dropped — Jabbari, who had cried often throughout her two days of testimony, returned to the courtroom, and didn’t exhibit emotion for the rest of the day.
Chaudhry later asked Jabbari if she had seen photos of herself at the nightclub the night after the alleged attack.
“Just the ones you posted,” Jabbari said quietly, to which Chaudhry objected. The judge smiled and shrugged at the defense lawyer: “That answer stands,” he said.
Majors has yet to take the stand, although he has pleaded not guilty to all accusations surrounding the alleged assault and has been carrying a bible into the courtroom. In the meantime, Loki Season 2 went awkwardly due to this elephant in the room, and Disney pulled Magazine Dreams, in which Majors portrays a troubled body builder, from its release schedule.
(Via People, TMZ, Deadline & Rolling Stone)