United States

Based on a true, headline-making court case, this compelling drama focuses on the events that follow the double murder of two white California policemen, gunned down in cold blood in a predominantly black neighbourhood. The execution-style deaths are dubbed "The Ambush Murders". Anxious for revenge and spurred by the intensity of pubic indignation, overzealous law enforcement officials capture and arrest their primary suspect - an outspoken black activist named Ray Ellsworth. Using circumstantial evidence and intimidation, they build their case against him, overlooking one important fact - Ellsworth is innocent. He languishes in jail for two years. Awaiting his third trial after the first two end in hung juries, Ellsworth has formed a closed mind regarding the criminal justice system. Unable to secure or afford the services of the more flamboyant "movement" attorneys, his wife hires a compassionate white lawyer named Paul Marshall. Ellsworth is suspicious, unfriendly and uncommunicative until Marshall's decency honesty and persistence break the ice. He is determined to prove his client's innocence to the jury, and he is determined to prove to Ellsworth himself that the justice system can work for him... if he can approach it without his own personal prejudices and preconceived condemnations.