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| “ | If word got around somehow that I was the kind of lawyer who crossed the line, that I was dirty, how long do you think it would be before 102 attorneys popped up with 102 motions to overturn every one of my convictions? Do you really have that kind of spare time on your hands? | „ |
| ~ Woll threatening Michael Cutter |
Marcus Woll is a supporting antagonist in Law & Order. He is a corrupt lawyer who murders a witness to one of his clients' crimes; he is also Assistant District Attorney Connie Rubirosa's former lover.
He was portrayed by Jonathan Cake, who also portrayed The Shade in Stargirl and Patrick Mulregan in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
Biography[]
Background[]
Woll is a former Assistant District Attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney's office who now works as a high-priced defense lawyer. He represents several members of a Mexican drug cartel, and knows a great deal about the murders they commit.
When he worked as an ADA, he had a one-night stand with his subordinate, Connie Rubirosa; she was taken in at first by his sly charm, but soon saw him for what he was and avoided him. When Rubirosa was promoted to Executive Assistant District Attorney Michael Cutter's junior ADA, however, she occasionally had to interact with him whenever his clients were charged with murder.
"Boy Gone Astray"[]
Woll is first seen representing three teenage boys - Rafael Alvarez, Samuel Molina, and Carlos Cabezas - who murdered drug dealer Nina Wilshire on behalf of the Ramon drug cartel, rivals of Woll's clients. Despite Cutter's arguments, Woll manages to have all the evidence against them dismissed, and Molina and Cabezas escape criminal charges.
Later on, Woll represents Eddie Blanco, a lieutenant in the Ramon family, when he is found to be connected to Wilshire's murder. Alvarez's parents ask for a new lawyer for their son because of Woll's conflict of interest, a request the trial judge grants over Woll's objections. Cutter and Rubirosa convince Alvarez to testify against Blanco, but Woll claims that they have brainwashed the boy and asks for more time to gather evidence, which the judge grants. Woll then has Cabezas killed to prevent him from testifying. Cutter offers Blanco a plea bargain, but Woll turns it down on his behalf, knowing that there is no one left to testify against his client. Sure enough, Cutter and Rubirosa are left with no evidence against Blanco, and are forced to drop the charges against him.
"For the Defense"[]
Woll crosses paths with Cutter and Rubirosa again when he represents William Avery and Taryn Murdoch, who are on trial for murdering Murdoch's husband; he claims to be doing pro bono work, but he is really keeping tabs on a witness, Maggie Hayes, who works for one of his clients, gangster Bart Rainey. When Woll finds out that Hayes is going to testify about Rainey's crimes, he advises Rainey to have her killed, which he does. Paige Ramsey, another of Rainey's employees and Hayes' former lover, goes to NYPD Homicide Detectives Cyrus Lupo and Kevin Bernard for protection, but Woll goes to their precinct to stop her from talking by claiming to represent her. Bernard senses that Woll means her harm and says she is not there in order to protect her.
Woll files a motion to suppress evidence against Avery and Murdoch, but Judge Linda Taft rules it admissible. Woll then gloats to Cutter and Rubirosa that he will beat them in court, and even offers Rubirosa a job, an offer she declines. After Cutter refuses to tell him where they are holding Ramsey in protective custody, Woll gives Rainey several locations in the area where he and Rubirosa had hidden witnesses when they worked together. Rainey eventually tracks them to a motel and sends an assassin to kill Ramsey, but Bernard manages to kill the hitman and save Ramsey, who nevertheless backs out of testifying against Rainey.
Cutter and Rubirosa suspect Woll of telling Rainey where Ramsey was hiding, and file a motion to have his phones wiretapped, a motion that Taft denies. Woll shows up unexpectedly, having heard about the motion from his connections with the DA's office, and makes a threatening comment to Cutter that, if he were found to be corrupt, all of the people he put in prison during his time in the DA's office would appeal their convictions and generate bad publicity for their boss, District Attorney Jack McCoy. Unmoved, Cutter and Rubirosa look through the latter's old cases with Woll and discover that he ordered the murder of Henry Lovett, a witness who would have ruined his murder case against drug dealer Alvin Jackson, who Woll then unjustly imprisoned. With McCoy's blessing, Cutter and Rubirosa have Woll arrested for murder and attempted murder for having Lovett killed and the attempt on Ramsey's life, respectively.
Woll and his lawyer convince Taft to dismiss the charges against him without prejudice, so Rubirosa amends the charges to one charge of first-degree murder, naming herself as an unindicted co-conspirator; during Jackson's trial, she had innocently told Woll where she was planning to hide Lovett, information he used to have Lovett killed. Woll then tries to sabotage their case by bragging to Cutter about having sex with Rubirosa, knowing it would damage her credibility as a witness. He also shows up at Rubirosa's apartment as she leaves for work in an unsuccessful attempt to intimidate her.
During Woll's trial, his lawyer cross-examines Rubirosa, and implies that she is trying to frame him because she wants revenge for his ending their relationship, and Woll makes similar allegations while testifying in his own defense. While cross-examining Woll, Cutter plays to his inflated ego by suggesting that Rubirosa might have done his bidding because she was in love with him. Unable to resist bragging about his supposed prowess, Woll says she must have been obsessed with him to frame him for two murders - unwittingly allowing Cutter to make a motion for all of Woll's crimes to be admitted as evidence, a motion Taft grants.
Cornered, Woll offers to tell Cutter and Rubirosa everything he knows about Rainey's crimes in return for having the charges against himself dropped. Cutter refuses the deal, however, and reveals that he has recorded their conversation and gives it to Rainey to get him to testify against Woll, who is sentenced by a jury to life imprisonment.
Trivia[]
- Woll is inspired by corrupt New Jersey lawyer and murder contractor Paul Bergrin.
External links[]
- Marcus Woll on the Law & Order Wiki
