When a Supreme Court justice takes his own life and his secretary is discovered dead, suspicion falls on Carl Anderson (played by Liam Neeson), a homeless veteran who cannot hear or speak. However, public defender Kathleen Riley (portrayed by Cher) is tasked with defending him and starts to suspect that Anderson might not be guilty. Juror Eddie Sanger (Dennis Quaid), who works as a lobbyist in Washington, shares her doubts, and the two team up to conduct their own inquiry into the situation.