anyone who think that the united state legal justice system be fair and balance have be watch too many movie . the poor and the marginalized get convict and the rich and elite drive away from the courthouse . it largely a matter of the size of the pocketbook . and it still amaze how many innocent people be lock away with almost no hope of get out . suspect be how about a how a homeless man ( liam neesom ) and his public defender ( cher ) find themselves in a case that have much large ramification than a simple matter of do a homeless person murder the victim for $ 9 . the aspect that make this movie a gem be the fine acting represent cher a the overworked and underpaid public defender and liam neeson a the deaf or mute defendant in one of his first major role and dennis quaid a a sexy lobbyist ( often mess around with congresswoman to get vote for his industry ) turn juror turn amateur sleuth and and john mahoney a the stoic judge at the trial . a lot of it be pure fantasy but the moment in the courtroom be actually very much like a real courtroom in it obsessiveness with procedure and protocol . the story begin with the suicide of a prominent supreme court justice and the subsequent murder of his assistant who have be slash to death . when police investigate the surround area and they find a homeless man sport a knife and in possession of the victim wallet which contain a king ransom represent $ 9 . cher be appoint to take the case and and quaid end up become one of the juror . because of the suicide at the beginning of the film and judge helm ( mahoney ) become one of the people on the u president short list to fill the supreme court vacancy . helm request to preside over the murder case to free up his late schedule in order that he be consider for the vacancy . several scene take u into the bowel of the homeless of washington dc . we see a lot of lawyer and a lot of law library and a lot of knife . every homeless person appear to wield a knife . cher with the unlawful help of quaid ( lawyer and juror in the same trial be not suppose to commiserate and let alone team up ) stumble upon some evidence that make the case much more complex . a thoroughly enjoyable courtroom drama with enough action to keep you on the edge of your seat and and an interesting commentary on the justice system and how it handle the poor and the homeless . unfortunately and public defender be probably not as successful a cher appear to be .