This episode appears to be based on several cases/incidents:
- The 1984 Bernhard Goetz (AKA "the subway vigilante") case. On December 22, 1984, Goetz shot four young black men--Barry Allen, Troy Canty, Darrell Cabey (all 19), and James Ramseur (18)--in a Manhattan subway. Goetz surrendered to police nine days after the shooting. He was eventually charged with attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment, and several firearms offenses. Goetz claimed that the four young men had threatened and tried to rob him. A jury later found him not guilty of all charges except one count of carrying an unlicensed firearm, for which he served eight months of a one-year sentence. In 1996, one of the shot men--Darrell Cabey, who had been left paraplegic and brain-damaged as a result of his injuries--went to civil court (with a black/Latino jury) and won a judgment of $43 million against Goetz.
- The 1964 Frank L. Felicetti case.
- The "castle doctrine" defense.
The brand of the camera Mr Costas installed in his shop was called Tracon. In Trust (1992), that was the name of the drug blamed for Jamie Maser's behavior in the shooting death of his friend.
Ron Rifkin (Alex Drakos) previously played the role of Phillip Nevins in Prescription for Death (1990) (episode 1.1).
Chris Noth (Detective Mike Logan) & Ron Rifkin (Alex Drakos) also worked together on Winning Ugly (2015) (episode 6.19), as Peter Florrick & Spencer Randolph respectively.