Finally, the major’s lawyer says the prosecutor invented the story

A lawyer for the actor Jonathan Majors on Thursday attacked the ex-girlfriend who has accused Mr Majors of assault, calling her a liar who had harmed herself but laying the blame on her boyfriend to punish him for straying.

Manhattan prosecutors charged Mr. Majors, 34, in March with assault and harassment, saying he attacked his girlfriend, Grace Jabbari, 30, as they drove in a rented SUV.

In her closing arguments in the trial of Mr Majors on Thursday, his lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, used photographs and video evidence showing that Ms Jabbari had started drinking after the altercation – and showing her use of the finger Mr Majors accused of wounding.

“It’s hard to keep your story straight when you’re making it up as you go,” Ms. Chaudhry said.

She spoke for more than an hour and was to be followed by prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney’s office, who are also expected to rely on Ms. Jabbari’s testimony to make their case; Mr Majors refused to testify. The jurors will then deliberate and render a verdict.

Mr Majors and Ms Jabbari have accused each other of assault as they headed to their shared home in the early hours of March 25. They agree that the altercation began when Ms. Jabbari said she saw Mr. Majors, her boyfriend. receive a flirty text message at that moment.

Prosecutors say Ms. Jabbari picked up the phone in an attempt to get a better look at the message — which read, “I wish I kissed you” — but Mr. Majors sat on top of her and twisted her arm behind her back. took her fingers off the phone and hit her. During the fight, Ms. Jabbari said, she broke her right middle finger and suffered a deep cut behind her ear.

“It felt painful. It felt uncomfortable,” Mr. Jabbari testified last week, adding that she was in pain but that her “emotional state was really just thinking about the infidelity.”

The defense has argued that Ms Jabbari flew into a jealous rage and attacked Mr Majors.

The most severe possible punishment for the actor would be a year in prison if he is found guilty, but he is more likely to receive probation. However, a guilty verdict could further jeopardize his career, which was frozen by the charges.

Mr. Majors was expected to anchor Marvel’s next round of superhero films, and was awaiting the wide release of a popular star, “Magazine Dreams,” which has now been put on hold.

The procedure has not saved his reputation so far; the biggest news to emerge was a text exchange with Ms. Jabbari that appeared to support prosecutors’ argument that he had been abusive in previous episodes.

But Mr Majors’ lawyers are keen to convince the jury otherwise and save his career in the process.

Ms. Chaudhry put her energy into the effort during her closing argument. She repeated the phrase “If you believe Grace” over and over, before pointing out apparent contradictions in Ms Jabbari’s story, including that the laceration behind her ear had left no trace of blood.

“Where’s the blood?” she said, adding, “How are they going to explain the complete absence of blood from a head wound that would have instantly turned Grace’s shirt into a crime scene?”

At one point, she said that Ms. Jabbari’s account of the episode would require Mr. Majors to have arms like “Inspector Gadget” so he could reach over the SUV’s seat and attack her.

Towards the end of her closure, Ms Chaudhry argued that Mr Majors – who called the police himself – had ended up in what she described as a “nightmare”. She punctuated her comment with a sob.

“His fear of what happens when a black man in America calls 911 came true,” she said. “And now we are here.”