April 5, 2024

Jonathan Majors’ Bid to Overturn Conviction Denied by Judge; Marvel Actor to be Sentenced April 8

Johnathan Majors will be sentenced on April 8, facing up to a year in prison. By: Kritchanon Tan Kian Wei

US - New York Judge Michael Gaffey has denied actor Johnathan Majors’ bid to overturn his assault and harassment conviction, concluding that Majors would be sentenced on April 8, when he will face up to a year behind bars.

Judge Gaffey argued in his decision: “Defendant first argues that his conviction of reckless assault in the third degree should be set aside because the court erred in submitting the count to the jury. At the outset, contrary to Defendant’s contentions, the court submitted the count of reckless assault as an alternate theory to the intentional assault count, and not as a lesser included offense …there was a reasonable view of the evidence to support that Defendant acted recklessly.”

The judge added: “Defendant next contends that the court should not have submitted the reckless assault count to the jury without a justification charge. This argument is wholly unpreserved, and as a result, this Court is without power to consider it. Certainly, on appeal, Defendant is free to request that the Appellate Term exercise its interest of justice jurisdiction and reach whether the court should have sua sponte charged justification, or alternatively, whether trial counsel was ineffective for failing to request such charge.”

“Finally, the trial evidence was legally sufficient to establish Defendant’s guilt of harassment in the second degree,” he noted. “Such evidence clearly established that Defendant subjected Ms. Jabbari to physical contact, and the jury reasonably could have inferred his intent from the conduct and surrounding circumstances,” Judge Gaffey concluded.

The 34-year-old, who is best known for his role as Kang the Conqueror and the character’s variants in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, was convicted in December 2023, which led to Marvel Studios dropping the actor. Recently, he was also sued by victim and ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari for assault and defamation.

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