Actor Jonathan Majors’ legal team launched their full defense on Wednesday following the official conclusion of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office’s direct prosecution of the Marvel star earlier in the day.
In the end, Majors decided not to testify on his own behalf. After calling three witnesses—an NYPD officer, a Connecticut doctor, and his agent—his attorneys decided to rest their case.
Thursday morning is scheduled to start with closing arguments and discussions.
Majors is accused of hurting his ex-girlfriend in the backseat of a rented Escalade cab last spring. The New York City prosecution rested their case early on Wednesday after seven days of providing witness testimony and evidence to jurors in Manhattan Criminal Court.
In light of allegedly incriminating testimony from the taxi driver, the only witness to the alleged assault, Majors’ attorneys moved right away to dismiss the prosecution’s trial case for a “Is it compatible that the crack in Ms. caused your finger to get twisted?
Josie Torielli, a trauma therapist and certified clinical social worker, was the prosecution’s last witness in the case. Despite the objections of Majors’ defense team, Judge Gaffey permitted Torielli to testify as an expert in “the dynamics of domestic violence” in the context of intimate partner relationships.
Torielli began her explanation of intimate partner violence to the jury on Tuesday afternoon. She said that the violence is not just physical but it encompasses “sexual violence, psychological as well as emotional violence, financial violence.”
Prosecutors revealed a recording of Majors’ 911 call made the morning following the incident with Jabbari. He had returned to his Chelsea penthouse apartment to find Jabbari unconscious and partially nude on the hot bathroom floor next to their bedroom.
Majors informed the emergency operator that his “ex-partner” was unconscious and that he believed she had overdosed or was attempting suicide over the phone, sounding both composed and worried.
In the 911 call, Majors states that it was only through the joint efforts of the building’s handyman and doorman that he was able to enter the portion of the Jabbari was lying on the flooring of the flat.
One of the police officers who responded to Majors’ 911 call, NYPD Sergeant Bryan Hanson, testified as a prosecution witness, saying he remembered seeing blood on the comforter on the bed in Majors’ apartment. However, he acknowledged that he was unable to spot any blood in the recordings he had watched from police body-worn cameras.
Majors was charged with misdemeanors by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office for allegedly beating Jabbari after she saw a love text message that another woman had sent to his phone. Majors grabbed Jabbari’s wrist so hard that he shattered it, the prosecution said, then yanked her arm beyond her back and hit her on one side of their head one of her fingers.
Dr. Tammy Weiner, an emergency medicine specialist in Danbury, Connecticut, was contacted by Majors’ defense on Wednesday. She examined pictures of Jabbari’s wounds and X-rays of her finger.
During her examination of Jabbari’s injuries, Weiner testified that she saw no indication of “any type of twisting injury to the hand or other fingers.” According to her, the fracture spirals caused by twisting injuries resembled the stripes found on a candy cane.
Judge Priya Chaudhry repeatedly overruled arguments from Majors’ attorney Priya Chaudhry when she asked the doctor if Jabbari’s fractured finger could have been caused by Majors yanking her fingers off his mobile phone, as the prosecution had claimed.
“Is it compatible that the break in Ms. caused your finger to get twisted? Jabbari’s finger?” Chaudhry tried to inquire. “In your medical opinion, how did Ms. Jabbari sustain this fracture to her finger?” she further inquired. and “How likely is it that she twisted herself into a fractured finger?” were also dismissed by the judge.
Jabbari, a 30-year-old British dancer and choreographer, sent a friend texts and pictures of her injured finger and reddish ear, which were shown at last week’s trial.
The “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” actor remained silent during his ex-girlfriend’s testimony last week, although several jurors seemed to flinch when they saw pictures of her finger and ear injuries.
In response, Majors’ defense attorneys claimed in their opening statement last week that Jabbari filed the accusations only as retaliation for Majors ending their relationship, and that Majors was the real victim of the domestic fight that evening.
The actor may or may not testify in his own defense, according to Majors’ attorneys.