"I don't know" 19 times
NYPD body-worn camera video turned over to Chaudhry by prosecutors shows a disoriented-seeming Jabbari telling cops and paramedics that she had drank to the point of throwing up in the bed and had taken several sleeping "tablets," the defense lawyer said in the letter.
Jabbari had no idea why her finger was bruised and her ear was bloody, Chaudhry said in the letter, instead telling first responders "I don't know" 19 times.
"She also asks, 'What happened to my finger?' to one of the cops when she was alone with him," Chaudhry told Insider, saying the police body-camera footage shows Jabbari looking down at her hand as if discovering the injury for the first time.
Jabbari also admits to the officers, "that she started a fight in the car because she saw a text from another girl, wanted to see his phone, and tried to grab his phone," Chaudhry said in the letter, characterizing the body-camera video.
"But then the cops keep asking her if he hit her, punched her," Chaudhry told Insider.
At one point in the body-camera footage, the cop who would end up swearing out
the original assault complaint can be seen on the video touching his own throat several times while questioning what Majors "did," as if coaching her, Chaudhry alleges in the letter.
But the police videos do not show any visible injury to Jabbari's neck, the lawyer said.
A subsequent,
amended complaint would remove the first complaint's allegation that Major had "put his hand on her neck, causing bruising and substantial pain."
"I suspect the medical records also show no injury to the neck," Chaudhry told Insider.
As for Jabbari's cut ear and swollen finger, Major's medical expert is ready to testify that these injuries are consistent with her having fallen while alone in the penthouse, she told Insider.
Majors' attorney says his arrest can leave Black men afraid to call 911
NYPD body camera footage captured Majors telling the cops who had arrived at his penthouse that he had not struck or injured Jabbari, and that she, instead, had gouged his own chin and arm with her fingernails as they fought on the street the night before, ripping his $1,000 coat, Chaudhry said.
"They did not investigate, pursue or care," even after he showed them the damage to his face, arm and coat, Chaudhry argued in the letter to the judge.
Why did officers instead believe Jabbari, who at first could not even remember what had happened?
Racism, Chaudhry alleges.
Chaudhry claims the footage shows the officers "walking around and looking out the windows, at the view" from the 17, 18th and 19th floors. It shows them "making impressed faces and mumbling to each other, 'What does he do?'" she told Insider.
"Because the cameras are worn on the officers' chests, the video shows where they go, what they are looking at, and how long they look at it," she said.
"There is also some commentary by all the officers about how this is a three-level penthouse, clearly showing amazement at the unique size of the place."
"Majors saved her life by calling 911, and they have falsely charged him with a crime," Chaudhry told Insider.
"Meanwhile they refuse to prosecute her" for allegedly assaulting him, or for Rolex watches and diamond jewelry, she alleged in court documents that Jabbari took from the apartment.
"It is heartbreaking that in 2023, a Black man should still be afraid to dial 911, even to save a life," the lawyer said.
"The sad truth of this story is that if you are Black man and there is a white woman who needs medical help, you should think twice about calling 911 because chances are, you will be blamed and arrested."
"And everyone—despite proof of the Black man's innocence—will assume he did it," she said. "And no one — despite proof of the white woman's crimes — will prosecute her."