The story is about 12 jurors having to vote on whether the defendant being tried for the murder of his father. The crime carries the death penalty, so they are deciding whether he lives or dies. At the beginning, only Juror #8 votes not guilty, and he tries to get everyone else to do the same. After a while, Juror #8 agrees to vote guilty if everyone votes guilty again, but Juror #9 votes not guilty, and they keep talking. Slowly, Juror #8 convinces more and more people to vote not guilty, with a few people fighting him strongly. In the end Juror #3 cracks under the pressure of the other jurors and they all end up voting not guilty.