Marla Hanson

Born in Independence, Missouri, Hanson graduated from Odessa High School in Odessa, Missouri, and attended college at Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Waxahachie, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. After working as a real estate and insurance saleswoman, a job promotion brought her to New York City, where she took a part-time modeling job that eventually became her full-time career in the 1980s.{{citation needed|date = June 2021}}

In June 1986, Hanson became involved in a dispute with her landlord, Steve Roth, over a security deposit that he owed her. She had also previously rejected his romantic advances. Roth hired two friends, Steven Bowman and Darren Norman, to attack Hanson. Hanson testified that Roth asked her to step outside a bar, and then stood by while the two men, after announcing a "stick-up," slashed her face with a razor blade. The assault left three wounds that required surgery and over 100 stitches to close,{{cite news |last= Purdum |first= Todd S. |date= 6 June 1986 |title= MODEL SLASHED; AN EX-LANDLORD IS AMONG 3 HELD |url= https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE2DA1E3BF935A35755C0A960948260|work= The New York Times |quote= Miss Hanson was in stable condition at St. Vincent's Hospital yesterday after undergoing surgery and receiving about 100 stitches for three cuts on her face.}} resulting in permanent scars.

Roth and the two attackers were tried separately, with Judge Jeffrey Atlas presiding over both trials. In Roth's trial, a lawyer for Roth suggested that his breaking off of a long-term gay relationship with Bowman that day led Bowman to attack Hanson out of jealousy.{{cite news |url= https://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F50714F83F550C758DDDAB0994DE484D81 |title= LAWYER RAISES ISSUE OF JEALOUSY IN SLASHING CASE |newspaper= The New York Times |date= December 16, 1986 |first= E.R. |last= Shipp}} In Roth's trial, he was found guilty of first degree assault for arranging the attack.

In the trial of Bowman and Norman a few months later,

Hanson was subjected to a controversial cross examination by Bowman's defense attorney Alton H. Maddox, who impugned her character in a line of questioning the prosecutor called "disgusting and filthy". Maddox also asserted that Hanson had "racial hangups" that led her to falsely identify Bowman and Norman, who are black, as her attackers.{{cite news |last= Shipp |first= E.R. |date= 21 April 1987 |title= DEFENSE LAWYERS' TACTICS: UNFAIR OR JUST AGGRESSIVE? |url= https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEFDC1038F932A15757C0A961948260 |work= The New York Times |access-date= 6 October 2007}}

Hanson and her attorney later publicly criticized the criminal justice system for allowing her to be humiliated on the witness stand. Bowman and Norman were found guilty.

At sentencing, Atlas gave Roth the 5 to 15 year maximum sentence,

but not before telling a weeping Hanson and her attorney he was "incensed" at their public criticism of the criminal justice system. After a brief recess, Atlas apologized to Hanson and her lawyer.{{cite news |last= James |first= George |date= 12 May 1987 |title= MAN GIVEN 5-TO-15-YEAR TERM IN MODEL'S SLASHING |url= https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEFD81139F931A25756C0A961948260 |work= The New York Times |access-date=7 October 2007 |quote= As Judge Atlas spoke, Miss Hanson, a 25-year-old model, put her face in her hands and wept. Later, after a brief recess, the judge apologized to Miss Hanson, saying he realized that testifying had been 'a painful experience.'}} Mayor Ed Koch expressed outrage at Atlas's comments.{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/13/nyregion/koch-assails-judge-on-remarks.html |work= The New York Times |title= Koch Assails Judge on Remarks |date= 13 May 1987 |access-date= 11 October 2017 |quote= Mr. Koch said that Ms. Hanson "went through hell" and "has already suffered enough." He added, "I am shocked - no, I am outraged" at the remarks by Justice Jeffrey M. Atlas of State Supreme Court in Manhattan at the sentencing of the landlord, Steven Roth, on Monday.}} Bowman and Norman were sentenced to the 5 to 15 year maximum sentence as well.{{cite news |last= Johnson |first= Kirk |date= 30 July 1987 |title= 2 Men Given 5-to-15-Year Prison Terms in Slashing of Model |url= https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE5D9123FF933A05754C0A961948260 |work= The New York Times |access-date= 12 February 2009 |quote= Justice Atlas said that the weight of the evidence in the trial made the defendants' claims of innocence 'utterly unconvincing' and that the 'terrible' nature of the crime made the maximum term imperative for both men.}}

Hanson has since lobbied for reform in the way victims of crimes are treated in criminal courts.

Her works as a screenwriter include:

• The Blackout (1997)
• Subway Stories (1997)

In 1997, Hanson married Douglas Howell, whom she had met on a flight to Cuba a few months earlier.{{cite news|date= 8 June 1997 |title= Marla Hanson, Douglas Howell |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/08/style/marla-hanson-douglas-howell.html |work= The New York Times |access-date= 9 June 2021}} They have a daughter together.{{cite news|last= Fried |first=Joseph |date= February 3, 2002 |title= Following Up |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/03/nyregion/following-up.html |work= The New York Times |access-date= 9 June 2021}}

The story of the attack on Hanson was made into a TV movie entitled The Marla Hanson Story in 1991 where she was portrayed by Cheryl Pollak.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvtrtD3eRNo |title=The Marla Hanson Story (1991) |date=2016-07-21 |last=Rare Films |access-date=2025-01-22 |via=YouTube}}

Hanson was featured on episode 3 of the Netflix series Skin Decision: Before and After. She received numerous treatments to improve her skin.

{{Reflist|2}}

• {{cite news |last= Johnson |first= Kirk |date= 3 December 1986 |title= Model Gives Grim Account of Night She Was Slashed |url= https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE6D61E3AF930A35751C1A960948260 |work= The New York Times |access-date= 11 October 2017}}
• {{cite news |url= http://people.com/archive/model-marla-hanson-showing-the-face-of-courage-to-a-jury-helps-convict-the-thug-who-maimed-her-vol-27-no-1/

|title= Model Marla Hanson, Showing the Face of Courage to a Jury, Helps Convict the Thug Who Maimed Her |last= Wadler |first= Joyce |date= 5 January 1987 |work= People |publisher= Time Inc. |access-date= 11 October 2017}}

• {{cite news |date= 22 March 2002 |title= Larry King Live (transcript) |url= http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0203/21/lkl.00.html |work= CNN |access-date= 11 October 2017}}
• {{cite news |date= 21 January 2005 |title= Interact With People In The News (online chat transcript) |url= https://www.usatoday.com/community/chat/2002-11-14-hanson.htm |work= USA Today |access-date= 11 October 2017}}
• {{IMDb name|0361332}}

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Category:1961 births

Category:Living people

Category:Writers from Independence, Missouri

Category:Female models from Missouri

Category:American women screenwriters

Category:Screenwriters from Missouri

Category:Violence against women in Texas

Category:21st-century American women