A 19 year-old Marcella Zoia most commonly known as “Chair Girl” threw a chair off a downtown Toronto balcony over a busy highway last year and told a courtroom she was “very sorry for her actions” as it was announced that she will learn her fate by March 2020.
Marcella Zoia: Toronto’s “Chair Girl” Gets Sentenced
What did Marcella Zoia do in 2019?
She Threw A Chair Down Her Balcony Onto Traffic:
In 2019, Toronto’s “Chair Girl” pleaded guilty and was charged with mischief endangering life after tossing a patio chair off of a highrise condo building onto the Gardiner Expressway. She was widely dubbed “chair girl” over the incident, attracted public scorn, endless memes and thousands of Instagram followers after the video of her throwing a chair off a 45-storey balcony popped up on social media. Fortunately for her, it didn’t fall on anybody. if that had happened, she would’ve had to cough up a lot of money to personal injury lawyers.
She Pled Guilty, Forced To Live With Mom:
The then19-year-old dental hygiene student and bottle service worker was charged with endangering life, mischief, and damage to property over $5,000 for her alleged role in a truly dangerous stunt performed on camera. In 2019, Marcella Zoia was released on a bail of $2,000 under the not-so-strict conditions of having to live with her mom and stay away from those who helped her film the now-infamous “Toronto chair toss video.”
15 Minutes of Fame and Memes:
Dubbed the infamous “Chair Girl”, Marcella Zoia became a viral sensation after her chair-throwing video and the internet was quick to take advantage of that. Why the chair-tosser has captured the attention of global media remains unclear (though that is, perhaps, the most interesting part of her trail. All we can say for certain is that thousands of people are obsessed with Zoia’s life and they’re letting it be known loudly and clearly through her social media pages.
See some of the internet’s best memes that exist thanks to the “Chair Girl”:
Drug Abuse Test:
DuriMay of 2019, Marcella Zoia Zoia took a drug test .The test ultimately proved that she wasn’t using drugs, specifically, cocaine after a video clip posted on her personal Instagram appeared to suggest otherwise. It was also reported last March that Zoia had been expelled from the school where she was studying dental hygiene as a direct result of media attention and charges.
What is Marcella Zoia doing in Feb 2020?
Turning 20 on Instagram:
Infamous celebrity “chair thrower” Marcella Zoia, the reckless Torontonian that we love to hate,celebrated turning 20 in 2020 at the hip latin restaurant Baro on King Street West. She documented everything on Instagram and Marcella Zoia’s Instagram account has even received official verification! Zoia received the coveted exclusive blue tick a little more than a week before her final sentencing hearing. Videos released from Zoia’s feed shows the young woman smiling and dancing in her chair while friends sing happy birthday.
Dressed in a sparkly silver dress, the 20 year old Chair Girl claps and laughs as the singing wraps up. A second video shows her blowing out a candle on a large pink custom cake by Toronto’s Maison Ophelia. The cake is adorned with roses, sparkly gemstones and the word “Marcella.” She turned 20, not even half a month after pleading guilty of mischief endangering life for tossing an actual chair from the balcony of a high condo building over Toronto’s busy Gardiner Expressway.
Her Sentencing:
In November 2019, Marcella Zoia pleaded guilty to mischief causing danger to life knowing full well that she could have been sentenced to jail time depending on the Crown. Currently, the Crown is seeking a six-month jail sentence, as her sentencing has begun since February 7, 2020.
At court, a prosecutor argued in court that any young woman who threw a chair off a downtown Toronto highrise balcony should spend months behind bars, receive counselling and be banned from social media. The Crown lawyer who argued whether Zoia is truly remorseful for her actions, is seeking a sentence that includes between four and six months in jail and two years of probation for the infamous “Chair Girl”. She is also asking for Zoia to attend counselling for alcohol consumption and participate in 240 hours of community service. In addition to that, the Crown is asking the judge to consider a ban on Zoia posting to social media during her probation.
However since Marcella Zoia has turned the social media response to her action into a brand and employment, the Crown could argue again. During her submission, the court referenced Marcella, now a model, making a quick cameo in Drake’s music video in December 2019, which generated major media coverage. The Canadian rapper immediately had her removed entirely the next day, saying “certain people we don’t condone.”
Can Peer Pressure Win The People Over?
The lawyer representing Marcella Zoia argued no jail time was necessary, claiming Marcella Zoia’s decision to send a steel and wood chair crashing 45 stories down onto a busy street was caused by alcohol and peer pressure. Lawyer Greg Leslie suggested that she who already pleaded guilty to mischief causing danger to life last year, serve just a suspended sentence meaning no jail time – with probation. The court was shown that Zoia had been drinking the night before and was still intoxicated on the morning of February 2019 when she threw the chair forever becoming “Chair Girl”. Video footage of this crazy event was taken with her phone and it appeared on her Snapchat account with the caption “Good morning,” but the defence maintained that a friend posted the video, not Zoia.
The internet sensation, now, admitted that the chair-tossing video was filmed on her personal cell phone and posted to her personal Snapchat account, but maintained that she was not the one who pressed the post and she was unaware that it was up for several hours.
That wasn’t enough for crown lawyer Heather Keating, addressed Zoia’s explanation in her sentencing submission on Friday, calling it “nonsense and not believable” and “preposterous” but said she did not want to turn the court proceedings into a “sideshow” by calling evidence to prove that fact.
“Society, through the courts, must show its abhorrence for a crime such as this,” Keating said at Zoia’s sentencing hearing. “There should be no question that Miss Zoia is extraordinarily lucky she didn’t kill someone.”
“It doesn’t matter whether she posted the video to social media or not, but what she did know is that she was being filmed,” Keating said. “Why else film something unless it is to preserve what is being done and to share with your friends?”
However, the lawyer representing Marcella Zoia said his client, who was just 19 at the time of the incident, has suffered the consequences of her youthful actions, to bring light to her remorseful state. The girl had dropped out of school, lost modelling contracts and is suffering from anxiety, Leslie said, arguing she lives with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and long-standing struggles with alcohol consumption. He argued group dynamics also played a role in the chair-throwing incident, alleging others were in the apartment with her at the time and also throwing items off the balcony.
“My client at the time was not the most mature young lady,” Leslie, Zoia’s lawyer said. “There was a number of people in the apartment at the time. And there was pressure put on my client to throw a chair. Peer pressure.”
The Fight To Avoid Jail:
At court, her lawyer pointed out that she was diagnosed with ADHD at “a very young age” and was subsequently put on medication, but after that was not appearing to work and began “self-medicating” with alcohol, which became a “major problem” in her high school years. He went on to tell the judge that his client was “at the time, not the most mature young lady” and “there was pressure put on her to throw the chair.”
“We know that there were more people at that apartment,” he said. “This is a young lady, intoxicated, there was peer-pressure placed on her and it was a spontaneous reaction.”
He even stated that after being charged, his client, Marcella Zoia has participated in “three or four” alcohol counselling meetings.
Moreover, in his submission, the lawyer Leslie stated that the event has affected his client’s life “in a negative way” and suggested her sentence include dealing with the “underlying mental health issues” she faces. Even going so far to state that Zoia has had some friends “shy away from her” since the incident, but some have continued to support her.
“Chair Girl” Apologizes To The Judge:
After both submissions were made, the judge offered Zoia the opportunity to hear her side of the story. The 20-year-old internet sensation stood up and read a prepared statement inside the courtroom.
In part, she said, “I am very sorry for my actions… I take this as a lesson.”
Marcella Zoia has been out on bail since February 2019 under the clause that she live with her mother, refrain from contact with the four other individuals named in the incident and stay away from the Maple Leaf Square Condos, which was the high rise building she brought to shame.
As of now, judge is expected to hand down her sentencing decision on the morning of March 12, at Old City Hall.