It was by playing the prosecuting attorney in this movie, that Andy Griffith was chosen to play the role of Ben Matlock in Matlock (1986).
Jeffrey MacDonald hoped and assumed that the novel "Fatal Vision" would support his innocence. However, when the book was published, MacDonald realized that the Author Joe McGinniss had concluded that he was, in fact, guilty. MacDonald sued McGinniss for fraud, and the case was settled out of court. He and his supporters still blame the novel, and resulting movie, for tainting the public's image of MacDonald and the murders.
In the movie, the guilty verdicts come as a surprise to MacDonald and his lawyers and family. According to the book, MacDonald (and everyone else in the courtroom) knew what was coming, as soon as the jury entered the courtroom to deliver their verdicts. This is because the first two jurors that entered the courtroom, one of whom was an ex-Green Beret like MacDonald, were both crying.