The central conflict in this film is whether African-American businessman Ernie Jones (played by O'Neal) raped Swedish immigrant and civil rights Freedom Rider Greta Mae Hansen (played by Lund). Jones was the proprietor of the hotel at which Hansen decided to stay during her time in Dallas. The movie is primarily a court room drama, with many of the key events portrayed in flashback sequences as Ernie Jones and Greta Mae Hansen testify.