Based on true events, in 1963 eighteen-year-old Trish Weir (Abigail Breslin) is kidnapped and sexually assaulted. Her assailant, Ernesto Miranda (Sebastian Quinn), confesses without legal representation and serves a two-year sentence, only to have the verdict later overturned. In the resulting retrial, a determined prosecutor (Luke Wilson) seeks to hold Ernesto accountable for his crimes, despite grueling opposition from Ernesto's defense attorney (Ryan Phillippe). What follows is a legal proceeding that forever changes the nation's justice system.