This episode appears to be based on the 1987 David Mooney case. In August 1987, Mooney--who lived under an on-ramp to Interstate 91 in New Haven, Connecticut--was arrested for the murder of Theodore Genovese. Genovese, a supervisor in the radiology department at Yale-New Haven Hospital, was found strangled with an electric cord in his home. Evidence led police to Mooney, and he was picked up for questioning. Mooney's girlfriend led the police on a search for the spot beneath the highway where he kept his belongings and he slept. In a cardboard box, the police found a 38-inch belt matching the waist size of the victim. In a duffel bag, they found a pair of bloody trousers. Mooney was later released due to homeless rights advocates: during Mooney's trial, they raised the question of whether the privacy of homeless people is protected by the Fourth Amendment. They pointed out that Mooney had an expectation of privacy, and the police had no search warrant to look into his belongings.
Alex Draper played three different characters over the course of the series:
- Episode 2.4 Asylum (1991) - Nathan Robbins.
- Episode 6.20 Girlfriends (1996) - CSU Flamino.
- Episode 19.2 Challenged (2008) - Matt Devon.
Tom Riis Farrell plays a homeless man in this episode. In Mayhem (1994) (episode 4.17), he portrayed Scott Hexter.
Chris Noth (Detective Mike Logan) and Tom Riis Farrell (Homeless man) also worked together on Two Courts (2011) (episode 2.11) and episode The Good (2006) (5.22).
Chris Noth (Detective Mike Logan) and Alex Draper (Nathan Robbins) also worked together on The Death Zone (2011) (episode 3.2) as Peter Florrick & Joel Branch, respectively.