Matthew 'Stymie' Beard, who plays Fred's friend Otis, is one of the original Little Rascals from the 1930's (known at the time as 'Hal Roach's Rascals').
Like a few episodes before it, recent reruns of this show censor usage of the word "nigger." However, when the daytime reruns began airing in late mornings in 1976 (with three minutes edited out of each episode to make room for more commercials), Fred's entire courtroom scene in front of the judge was left intact.
This is the 4th time Fred uses the word "nigger" and the 5th episode the word "nigger" is used. The first time was the season 1 episode "Here Comes the Bride, There Goes the Bride;" the next two episodes were in season 2 - "Jealousy" and "Sanford and Son and Sister Makes Three;" then this season's "Fred Sanford, Legal Eagle." In "Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe," Grip informs Esther that he's Lamont's real father, which Esther responds "What did you say nigger?"
The character Sonny Cochran is likely a reference to famed attorney Johnnie Cochran. While not yet nationally known at the time of this episode, by the mid-1970s Johnnie Cochran was a well-established criminal defense attorney in the Los Angeles area who had made a name for himself litigating a number of high-profile cases involving police brutality.
The judge states that Lamont is charged with Section 21803 of California's vehicle code. This is fact. Section 21803 states: The driver of any vehicle approaching any intersection which is controlled by a yield right-of-way sign shall, upon arriving at the sign, yield the right-of-way to any vehicles which have entered the intersection, or which are approaching on the intersecting highway close enough to constitute an immediate hazard, and shall continue to yield the right-of-way to those vehicles until he or she can proceed with reasonable safety.