This episode appears to be based on the 1977 Bonnie Garland murder case. In the early morning hours of July 7, 1977, Yale graduate student Richard Herrin bludgeoned Yale college senior Bonnie Garland to death with a hammer as she lay sleeping in her parent's Scarsdale, New York, home. Herrin was arrested. A group led by members of the clergy of Yale's Catholic Church campaigned to have Herrin released on bail. They raised bail money and wrote letters to the trial judge attesting to Herrin's "good character." Impressed by the campaign, the judge released Herrin into the care of the Christian Brothers in Albany. The tactics used by Herrin's lawyer, Jack T. Litman, have become known as 'blame the victim' defense. Richard Herrin was convicted of manslaughter, rather than first degree murder. He served 17 years in prison; he was released on January 12, 1995.
Laurence Luckinbill (Cyrus Weaver) is married to Lucie Arnaz, who appeared as Jackie Scott in B*tch (2003) (S13E15).
Chris Noth (Detective Mike Logan) & Boris McGiver (Alan) also worked together on Fleas (2010) (episode 1.16) and Grow (2005) (episode 5.1).
Chris Noth (Detective Mike Logan) & Rick Holmes (Bill Lynch) also worked together on The Death Zone (2011) (episode 3.2), as Peter Florrick & Dr. Howard Farland respectively.