When a Supreme Court judge commits suicide along with his secretary is found murdered, all fingers point to Carl Anderson (Liam Neeson), a homeless veteran who is deaf and mute. But when public defender Kathleen Riley (Cher) is assigned to his own case, she begins to feel that Anderson may even be innocent. Juror Eddie Sanger (Dennis Quaid), a Washington lobbyist, agrees, and also the set begins their very own investigation of events.