When Judge Armando 'The Coconut' Acosta is caught with a prostitute, few are sympathetic. Lawyer Paul Madriani has a long history of enmity with the judge and considers Acosta's arrest to be the consequence of a lifetime of corruption. Even when the call girl is found to be a beautiful police academy recruit and the entire case appears to be a set-up, Paul is still reluctant to step in and save the judge's career from impending doom. Then the police recruit is brutally killed and Acosta is charged with murder.

Lenore Goya, an ambitious defence lawyer, takes on Acosta's case and reluctantly Madriani is persuaded to come on board - they both know he owes her one. Together they uncover the shocking evidence, the ugly lies, the deceit and the corruption that are at the bottom of the most complex and terrifying murder trial of Madriani's career.