This article's content is marked as Mature The page contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, and/or graphic violent images which may be disturbing to some. Mature pages are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older. If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another page. |
“ | Don't be stupid, okay? Don't be dead. We know what you did. Okay, you hear me, Cutrona? | „ |
~ Hanauer threatening Ryan Cutrona |
“ | All we did was hold her. Maybe some other stupid stuff. | „ |
~ Metzler dismissing his and Hanauer's part in Monica DeVries' rape |
Howard Metzler and Steven Hanauer are the secondary antagonists of the Law & Order episode "The Violence of Summer". They are two petty criminals who join the drug dealer they work for in gang-raping a woman and who try to frame their friend for the crime.
Metzler was portrayed by Gil Bellows, who also portrayed Banks in Hunt to Kill, and Hanauer was portrayed by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, who also portrayed Dean Trumbell in Punch Drunk Love, Owen Davian in Mission: Impossible III, Brandt in The Big Lebowski, and Allen in Happiness.
Early life[]
Metzler and Hanauer are petty criminals who spend most of their time abusing drugs and committing small-time muggings and thefts to afford their drug habits. They also sold cocaine and crack for small-time drug dealer Tim Pruiting.
One night shortly before the events of the episode, they persuaded Ryan Cutrona, a 17-year-old acquaintance, to get high with them and Pruiting in a crackhouse. TV reporter Monica DeVries asked to buy cocaine from them as research for a story on drug use, and Pruiting decided to rape her. He, Metzler, and Hanauer attacked her, with Metzler and Hanauer holding her down while Pruiting raped her and a horrified Cutrona stood by, too scared to do anything to help her.
Metzler and Hanauer bragged about what they did all over their neighborhood, which made it fairly easy for NYPD Sergeant Max Greevey and Detective Mike Logan to find enough evidence to arrest them and Cutrona after DeVries pressed charges. During their interrogation, Metzler and Hanauer blamed the rape on Cutrona, claiming that he forced them to watch while he - and only he - assaulted her.
"The Violence of Summer"[]
During their trail, Metzler and Hanauer try to get their trial separated from Cutrona's to make it more likely that he would take the fall. When Cutrona protests his innocence, Metzler and Hanauer threaten him, and Metzler points a gun at him, forcing Assistant District Attorney Paul Robinette to tackle him to the ground and disarm him.
Robinette and Executive Assistant District Attorney Ben Stone believe that Metzler and Hanauer instigated the rape, so they try to persuade Cutrona to testify against them, but he is too afraid. Meanwhile, the semen sample in DeVries' rape kit does not match any of the defendants and her past drug use is leaked to the media, putting Stone and Robinette's prosecution in jeopardy.
Metzler and Hanauer's lawyers file to have the case dismissed, and Stone and Robinette have no choice but to concede because they do not have enough evidence. Greevey and Logan re-open their investigation and have DeVries undergo a session with a hypnotherapist, who helps her recall that she was raped by a third assailant. They find broken glass at the crime scene that yields Pruiting's fingerprints, giving them enough probable cause to arrest him. To ensure that all three rapists go to jail, Greevey and Logan trick Metzler and Hanauer into confessing to the rape by telling them that Pruiting has blamed it all on them.
Ultimately, Metzler and Hanauer are found guilty of second-degree attempted rape, while Pruiting is found guilty of first-degree rape.
Trivia[]
- Hanauer was Philip Seymour Hoffman's first on-screen credit; he went on to have a successful film career, including winning the Academy Award for Best Actor, before his death in 2014.