John Ireland was suspended by Columbia for refusing to work on "Convicted". He subsequently went to court and won his case, which resulted in his being allowed to buy himself out of his Columbia contract.
Based on the Broadway play "The Criminal Code" which opened at the National Theatre (Nederlander since 1980), 208 W. 41st St., on October 2, 1929 and ran for 173 performances until March 1930.
The play on which this film was based was made into a film, "The Criminal Code" (1931) starring Walter Huston in the role of the warden.
Detective Dorn (Henry O'Neill) states there hadn't been a good newspaper since the New York World. That was a real newspaper that ceased publication in 1931. Its last owners were Joseph Pulitzer and his sons - of Pulitzer Prize fame.
Promotional posters for the movie shows an angry faced Glenn Ford clutching a rifle. However, Glenn Ford's character doesn't even touch a single gun in the entire movie.