Jonathan Majors could face up to a year in prison over assault charge

Six weeks after he was arrested by the NYPD over an alleged domestic violence incident, Jonathan Majors could be facing up to a year in prison on assault charges. During a Tuesday morning hearing, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office publicized a superseding complaint with a charge of third-degree assault, per Deadline; the charge carries a maximum sentence of 12 months in prison or three years of probation.

Majors attended the New York City hearing virtually, and did not enter any plea regarding the new superseding charge. During the proceedings, Judge Rachel S. Pauley informed Majors that he will have to attend his next hearing, scheduled for June 13, in person; if he fails to appear, a warrant could be issued for his arrest. Majors was first charged with several counts of third-degree assault—as well as three counts of third-degree attempted assault, one count of second-degree aggravated harassment, and one count of second-degree harassment—on March 28.

In late April, Majors’ accuser was granted a temporary full order of protection, which barred her and Majors from any and all contact through his most recent court date. Although the unnamed accuser remains the primary defendant in the case, Variety reported in April that “multiple alleged abuse victims of Majors have come forward following his March arrest and are cooperating with the Manhattan district attorney’s office.”

Although Majors had little to say during his court appearance, his lawyer Priya Chaudhry passionately denounced the D.A.’s case in a statement to The A.V. Club, where she invoked “the racial bias that permeates the criminal justice system” as the source of the proceedings. In the weeks following Majors’ arrest, Chaudhry has stalwartly asserted that Majors was a victim, not an aggressor, in the incident.

“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 stated. “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.”

She continued: “This is a witch hunt against Jonathan Majors, driven by baseless claims. 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.”

Finally, Chaudhry went on to describe an alleged interaction between Majors and a white police officer that she asserted illustrates a “glaring double standard” within the criminal justice system.

“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,” Chaudhry stated. “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.” Chaudhry did not elaborate on the statement, nor did she name any of the officers involved in the alleged incident.

Majors’ case has swiftly caused a ripple effect in his professional life—since his arrest, the once highly sought-after actor has since been dropped by his talent manager, Entertainment 360, and PR firm, The Lede Company. Back in late March, The U.S. Army also put a pin in Gen Z-focused recruitment ads starring Majors. How the mounting allegations against Majors will affect his central role in the next phases of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe remains to be seen; the studio has yet to make any public statement regarding the case.