Showrunner Eric Overmyer had seen an Atlantic Monthly story many years ago about real-life Haitian secret policeman and CIA asset Emmanuel "Toto" Constant, who later came to the US and sold real estate in New York. People originally from Haiti would recognize him on the street there and freak out. He has since been found guilty of crimes he committed in Haiti and is serving life in a New York prison, unlike Jacques Avril.
Honey Chandler, played by Mimi Rogers, has a long courtroom scene in episode 509 with several pages of dialogue. Director Aaron Lipstadt called Mimi after seeing the script and asked if there were anything he could do to help her prepare. She told him she'd treat the material like a play and memorize everything. She wanted to be "off-book" during shooting so she could also concentrate on the blocking and the rhythm of the sequence.
Showrunner and writer Eric Overmyer has an interest in Haitian history, and he knew of actor Jamie Hector's Haitian background from when they worked together on The Wire (2002). He thought it would be interesting if J. Edgar had a Haitian background too.
Mimi Rogers (Honey Chandler) and Bess Armstrong, who played the judge, ran lines together between takes and in the makeup trailer to perfect their performances.
Since so many principal cast members of the show are in the courtroom scene, actress Mimi Rogers, who plays Honey Chandler, knew director Aaron Lipstadt would have to shoot a lot of coverage. Mimi asked that she be allowed to do her takes early in the day since she had so much dialogue. This way, she could do the scenes while her voice was still fresh and still have strength for the shots in which she didn't have lines.