Trial plot
"Tense! Timely! Thrilling!"
Angelo Chavez is a Mexican boy who is accused of murdering a white young woman. Untrustworthy attorney Bernard "Barney" Castle is willing to defend Chavez during the trial, but only out of self-interest. Castle is a member of a Communist-backed organization that wants to use the process for their own ends. Castle is represented by the idealistic and relatively inexperienced lawyer David Blake. The atmosphere outside, but also inside the court is very grim: the local population actually prefers to lynch Chavez right away.