Actor Jonathan Majors managed to avoid jail in his sentence for a domestic violence case

More than three months after being found guilty of reckless assault and harassment, Jonathan Majors was sentenced this morning by a New York judge to participate in a domestic violence treatment program.

The year-long intervention program for “in-person offenders” will take place in Los Angeles, where Majors is based.

Present in Judge Michael Gaffey’s Manhattan courtroom on Monday, Majors could have faced up to a year in prison for his Dec. 18 conviction on two misdemeanor counts of reckless assault and harassment against Grace Jabbari. After a three-week trial late last year and several days of deliberations, the former Marvel He was convicted by a jury of three men and three women.

In handing down the sentence Monday, Judge Gaffey also issued a permanent order of protection against any contact with Jabbari and continued therapy for Majors. The actor cannot solicit or possess a gun, the judge also said. Any violation of the terms of the sentence could result in Majors being put behind bars for up to 364 days, Gaffey made clear today. If Majors does not complete the West Coast intervention program, he also could face six months in jail.

Facing a total of four misdemeanor charges, Majors, who pleaded not guilty, was not convicted by the jury of third-degree intentional assault and second-degree aggravated harassment against his then-girlfriend Jabbari. Although he was present every day, Majors did not testify at his trial.

Like Majors, Jabbari was in court Monday when the sentence was handed down. Before sentencing, the British dancer read a victim impact statement. “He will do this again,” Jabbari said of Majors, who was sitting just a few feet away from her. “This is a man who believes he is above the law,” she added.

Majors did not make a statement in court Monday. Since this is the actor’s first conviction, both the prosecution and defense agreed that prison time for Majors was not an appropriate sentence, we heard. In sentencing, Judge Gaffey said Monday that “jail is not necessary” for Majors.

Jonathan Majors faces defamation lawsuit

With his career decimated since his arrest in March 2023, the star of Creed III is also currently facing a defamation suit brought by Jabbari. Almost right after Jabbari filed his complaint in late March, Majors’ lead attorney, Priya Chaudhry, swore that countersuits were coming. However, to this day, no such counterclaims have appeared in any court records.

Jabbari’s defamation case is filled with additional allegations of abuse against Majors that Judge Gaffey originally kept out of the criminal record. Initially, the judge ruled that the material was too “inflammatory” to allow Majors to receive a fair trial. However, largely due to his own defense, he later reversed parts of that sealing decision so that Jabbari could effectively respond to questioning on the stand.

Monday’s sentencing ended a yearlong downward spiral for Majors that began with the actor’s arrest by New York City Police on March 25, 2023 for domestic violence. The arrest came just hours after an argument between the actor and Jabbari turned physical inside their chauffeured car late at night in midtown Manhattan.

Instead of negotiating a plea to the misdemeanor, non-felony charges brought by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, Majors and his attorney Chaudhry took the risky step of going to trial on the misdemeanor case. If the move was an attempt to secure a not guilty verdict and save the actor’s career, which had begun to implode in the days after his arrest when his public relations firm and management fired him in quick succession, it was a failure.