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