Viola Davis, who appears as Defense Attorney Donna Emmett, would go on to receive an Academy Award nomination for her performance in another production entitled Doubt (2008).
The blue book Ron Polikoff (Billy Campbell) is holding, is a real book "The Color Encyclopedia of World Art" (1975), by Jay Jacobs.
This episode is unique in that it ended abruptly right after the jury foreman read "We find the defendant..." as it cuts to the credits, leaving the verdict unknown, making the viewers to come to their own conclusions. When it aired, NBC conducted an online poll so viewers could determine the verdict. Most of them (60%) sided with the professor, 20% sided with the student, and the rest wanted more information.
Det. Stabler (Christopher Meloni) and Captain Cragen (Dann Florek) are standing on the rooftop of the "Clocktower Gallery" in TriBeCa, NYC, where the iconic stone eagles can be seen. The land-marked clock tower has been redeveloped several times, including into luxury apartments and art galleries.
Olivia Bensen (Mariska Hargitay) says "As in Eagle, Colorado. The Kobe case". This is in reference to the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case. A 19-year-old hotel employee accused Bryant, a famous Basketball player, of raping her in his hotel room on July 1, 2003. Bryant admitted to a sexual encounter, but insisted the sex was consensual. During pre-trial hearings, the prosecution accused Bryant's defense team of attacking his accuser's credibility. It was revealed that she wore underpants containing another man's semen and pubic hair to her rape exam; the day after the alleged incident. Kobe's defense team also claimed that she had sex with multiple partners within two days. The case was dropped after Bryant's accuser refused to testify in the case. A separate civil suit was later filed against him by the woman. The suit was settled out of court, and included Bryant publicly apologizing to his accuser, the public, and family, while denying the allegations. After the allegations, Bryant signed a seven-year contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, valued at $136 million. Kobe Bryant died on January 26, 2020, age 41, in a helicopter crash.