In 1949, when a white farm-wife alleged she was assaulted by four black men on the rural roads of Lake County, Florida, town Sheriff Willis McCall identified four suspects: Samuel Shepherd, Walter Irvin, Earnest Thomas and Charles Greenlee. This documentary chronicles the injustices faced by these defendants at the hands of the Jim Crow-era U.S. criminal justice and court systems, employing historical re-enactments and witness accounts. Narrated by actor Courtney B. Vance.