In most states the charge of murder in the first degree is reserved for premeditated murder, but in New York state it works a little differently. In New York, premeditated murder is usually charged as aggravated murder in the second degree. Murder in the first degree is reserved for: intentionally causing the death of a police or peace officer while performing their duties; intentionally causing the death of a firefighter, paramedic, EMT, physician or nurse responding to an emergency; intentionally causing the death of a witness to a crime in order to prevent them from giving a statement to the police or testifying before a judge or jury; murder for profit; causing the death (with or without intent) of a person during the commission of another serious felony, such as kidnapping in the first degree, arson in the first degree, and rape in the first degree (also known as felony murder); and finally, intentionally causing the death of another person while serving a sentence for a previous conviction of murder in the second degree.
This episode appears to be based on the 1982-1983 Oreste Fulminante case. In 1982, the 11-year-old stepdaughter of Oreste Fulminante was murdered in Arizona. Later, Fulminante was incarcerated for an unrelated miscellaneous charge. While in prison, Fulminante met Anthony Sarivola, his cellmate who was also a confidential informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Sarivola offered Fulminante protection from "tough treatment" in prison in exchange for a confession to the murder of Fulminante's stepdaughter. Fulminante argued that the confession was invalid because it was coerced and he would have said anything to protect his own life. The confession was allowed in the first trial, but considered inadmissible in the appeal because of the confession was allegedly coerced.
First appearance of Carolyn McCormick as clinical/forensic psychologist Dr. Elizabeth Olivet. She will be a long-time recurring character appearing in 87 episodes. She also appears in five episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) and one episode each of Law & Order: Trial by Jury (2005) and Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001).
This episode premiered on September 17, 1991. Two incidents that were then prominent in the news are referenced. Ben Stone alludes to the Jeffrey Dahmer case, which broke in the news on July 22, 1991. And Adam Schiff references the Rodney King incident, which happened on March 3, 1991.