This movie is loosely based on the real-life case of Larry Davis, a drug dealer who shot six cops, but was acquitted (with William Kunstler as his lawyer) after charging that the police were trying to kill him because they were involved in the drug trade. The Manhattan District Attorney, Robert Morgenthau, was also nicknamed "Morgy".
The flag with the green and white stripes, seen in the room where the first interrogations take place, is the official flag of the N.Y.P.D. The N.Y.P.D. flag flies outside Precincts and other Police Department buildings, and was first created in 1919. It bears five alternating green and white bars, representing the five boroughs of New York City; Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx. There are twenty-four white stars on a field of blue in the left corner of the flag. The blue field represents the Police Department. Twenty-three of the stars represent the separate towns and villages that became part of New York City under the Consolidation that took place in 1899, while the twenty-fourth star represents the City itself.
Richard Dreyfuss' role is loosely based on the career of the late celebrity attorney William Kunstler.
At the time that this movie was made, Bobby Cannavale (Vigoda Assistant #1) was the son-in-law of Writer and Director Sidney Lumet. He was married to Lumet's daughter Jenny Lumet from 1994 to 2003.
David Watkin: sleeping judge in the beginning of the film. This role is probably in jesting reference to cinematographer Watkin's reputation for sleeping on his own sets between lighting setups.