When sixteen-year-old Drew Gamble shoots dead the cop who was abusing his family, he becomes the most hated person in Clanton, Mississippi.
The townsfolk expect Drew to be convicted and go to the gas chamber.It falls to Jake Brigance, Clanton's most famous lawyer, to defend the kid.
However reluctant he is to put himself in the firing line, Jake is determined to do his best to save Drew. And, as the folk in Clanton already know, when Jake Brigance takes on a case, even a cut and dried one like this, anything can happen.