Washington [US], May 10 : Jonathan Majors appeared in a lower Manhattan court on Tuesday morning via Zoom regarding the status of his ongoing assault case.
In the brief conference, which was set six weeks ago after his initial court appearance, Judge Rachel S. Pauley discussed a motion filed by Majors' defense team that the prosecution can respond until May 23. The defense will have until May 31 to respond back. Majors needs to appear in court on June 13, when a decision will be made regarding that motion. If he fails to show up in person, a warrant can be issued for his arrest within 48 hours, the judge added, reported Variety.
"I obviously don't want that to happen, so just stay in touch with your attorney," the judge told Majors.
Majors was arrested on March 25 in Manhattan on domestic violence allegations after a dispute with a 30-year-old woman, according to authorities. The unnamed victim told officers that she was assaulted and was taken to the hospital with "minor injuries to her head and neck." Days later, Majors was charged with several counts of assault in the third degree, three counts of attempted assault in the third degree, one count of aggravated harassment in the second degree, and one count of harassment in the second degree.
The alleged victim on April 27 was granted a temporary order of protection.
The legal team for Majors has denied any wrongdoing and has released text messages and videos that are intended to prove the embattled actor's innocence. In one text exchange, the woman wrote to Majors, "I told them it was my fault for trying to grab your phone" and stressed that she told police "this was not an attack."
His criminal defense lawyer Priya Chaudhry issued a statement after Tuesday's court appearance, calling the case a "witch hunt" and claiming the proceeding is "saturated with explicit and implicit bias." She also alleged the treatment of Majors, whom she described as a "Black man weighing 200 lbs," highlighted the "racial bias that permeates the criminal justice system," reported Variety.
A representative for Majors also denied the allegations after he was released from custody on March 25 and his publicist told Variety, "We look forward to clearing his name and clearing this up." The following month, on April 17, Majors was dropped by his PR team at the Lede Company, as well as his management, Entertainment 360.
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