Jake Clearwater is a law professor and a former prosecutor who is urged by the Death Penalty Project to help stem the tide of wrongful death convictions in California. Clearwater agrees to represent Duane Durgeon, who had been convicted of a double murder. He is a huge, hulking, hard-boiled bad-ass, who, against the advice of his counsel demanded to address the jury during the sentencing phase of his trial. Getting his wish, he insults the judge, his lawyers, the prosecutors, and the jury in a profanity-laced rant that ends with him asking for the death penalty.

Despite Durgeon’s despicable persona and indifference to his fate, Clearwater convinces the reluctant man to appeal and wins a retrial where Clearwater is pitted against his former boss and bitter foe, prosecutor John Tice. What follows is a riveting tale of courtroom drama, suspense, and the exquisite workings of law and ultimately, justice.