 Writer Aaron Sorkin (qv) got the story idea from his sister, who  in real life experienced a very similar incident at Guantanamo from  the "Lt. Galloway" perspective as a female military attorney. In  that incident, the victim was similarly assaulted by nine soldiers  and was badly injured, but did not die. Sorkin initially turned the  idea into a play, and then this screenplay, which was his very  first.