Pineapple reference: on the cold opening Shawn eats chopped pineapple from a plastic container.
This episode is remade later on in the series as Remake A.K.A. Cloudy... With a Chance of Improvement (2014). Only two actors (not counting the main cast) appear in both the original and the remake. Michael Weston plays attorney Adam Hornstock in both. Sandra Panitch (the defendant) is played by Jolie Jenkins in the original and by Lindsay Sloane in the remake. Judge Horace Leland is played by Donnelly Rhodes in the original and by Ray Wise in the remake. Jackson Hale (the victim) is played by Mark Brandon in the original and by Dana Ashbrook in the remake. Priscilla Osterman (Channel 8 receptionist) is played by Keegan Connor Tracy in the original, in the remake the character's name is changed to Priscilla Morgenstern and she is played by Katharine Isabelle. Michael Eklund plays Reuben Leonard in the original and in the remake he plays the Floor Manager; whereas in the remake Reuben Leonard is played by Alan Ruck.
James Roday (Shawn) and Michael Weston (Adam) are friends in real life, and have been in numerous films together, including this episode, Remake A.K.A. Cloudy... With a Chance of Improvement (2014), The Dukes of Hazzard (2005), Gamer (2009), and A Million Little Things (2018).
James Roday Rodriguez (Shawn), Maggie Lawson (Juliet), and Michael Weston (Adam Hornstock) all made appearances in 2009 action film Gamer (2009).
The criteria for being charged with first degree murder vary from state to state, but some of the criteria that are the same is a homicide is murder in the first degree when the intended victim is a police/peace officer, the murder weapon is a weapon of mass destruction, an explosive or poison, the murder is done for profit or to conceal a crime, when the victim is tortured first and if the murder occurs during the commission of a serious felony like arson, armed robbery, escape from jail/prison, kidnapping or rape. However some states, like California and the Federal Justice System, also consider premeditation and malice aforethought to constitute first degree murder, but in other states like New York and Oregon premeditation is not a factor.