Andrew Beauchamp, a criminal prosecutor in the Deep South
during the early 1900s, prepares to prosecute Tobias Erscan for
a capital crime. Erscan, a black tenant farmer, stands accused
of sexually assaulting Lily Cato, a highly- respected white music
teacher and choir director. The town’s animosity toward Erscan,
further inflamed by a local newspaper and the Ku Klux Klan,
makes its way into Beauchamp’s own home and law office.
Despite his vague unease in treating the case as one warranting
the death penalty (the ‘assault’ had consisted of briefly touching
the supposed victim on the shoulder), Beauchamp, who appears
to be mostly concerned with obeying the letter of the law and
his standing in the coming elections, refuses to plea bargain
the charge down to a lesser crime. Instead, he pushes ahead,
preferring to let the law and the jury sort the matter out. In
doing so, he fails to anticipate the devastating consequences his
action will have on the unfortunate Erscan and on his own life.
