In an earlier episode Conspiracy (1992), Phil Cerreta (Paul Sorvino) and Mike Logan (Chris Noth) investigated the assassination of the leader of the African-American Congress (AAC). In this episode, Lennie Brisco (Jerry Orbach) and Ray Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) investigate the attempted murder of the new AAC leader Roland Brooks. Lennie notes that Logan investigated the previous leader's murder. Joe Morton portrayed Roland Books in the earlier episode; Ron Cephas Jones portrays him in this episode. Other actors reprise their earlier roles.
When Roland Books mentions the CIA selling crack to black people in Harlem to finance a war in Central America, he is referring to the Iran-Contra affair. In the late 1980s, high ranking members of the United States government and the military were caught selling guns to Iran and then using those profits to buy cocaine from South America. They then allegedly sold the cocaine on the streets of the U.S. in order to fund a group of Central American revolutionaries, the Contras, backed by the CIA. When the scandal became public knowledge, several members of the Reagan administration faced possible criminal charges. The President himself possibly faced an impeachment hearing if evidence supporting claims of the President's involvment ever came to light. But before an inquiry could be made, a high ranking member of the military--National Security Council member Brigadier General Oliver North--claimed responsibility for ordering the operation. He was indited on 16 felony charges and initially convicted of three charges: accepting an illegal gratuity; aiding and abetting in the obstruction of a congressional inquiry; and ordering the destruction of documents through his secretary, Fawn Hall. These convictions were later overturned on appeal. However, he was brought before a general court-martial: he was given a general discharge from the Army right after being demoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel by the court-martial for his conduct in the affair. No hard evidence was found (most evidence being destroyed by North) implicating President Reagan or his staff. While some people believed that Reagan and staff not only knew about the affair but that Reagan himself ordered it, no proof existed that he did, and the matter remains unresolved to this day.
This episode appears to be based on the 1995 Qubilah Shabazz case. Shabazzz was the second daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz. In 1965, she witnessed the assassination of her father by three gunmen. She was arrested in 1995 in connection with an alleged plot to kill Louis Farrakhan--then the leader of the Nation of Islam--whom she believed was responsible for the assassination of her father. She has maintained her innocence. To avoid a prison sentence, she accepted a plea agreement under which she was required to undergo psychological counseling and treatment for drug and alcohol abuse
Michelle Hurd (Angela Roney) also played Detective Monique Jeffries on Seasons 1 and 2 of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999).
William Hill has portrayed seven different characters throughout the course of the series:
- Episode 2.11 His Hour Upon the Stage (1991) - Hopkins.
- Episode 2.19 The Fertile Fields (1992) - Hopkins.
- Episode 3.12 Right to Counsel (1993) - Milgrim.
- Episode 4.7 Apocrypha (1993) - Hines.
- Episode 7.9 Entrapment (1997) - Eddie Page.
- Episode 8.24 Monster (1998) - Kusevitsky.
- Episode 10.12 Mother's Milk (2000) - Beltran's Lawyer.
- Episode 12.5 Possession (2001) - Havel's Lawyer.
- Episode 19.4 Falling (2008) - Eddie O'Connor.