The year is 1967... Des Campbell is the smart but insecure son of an extraordinarily successful yet bigoted attorney who pushes Des into following in his footsteps. Des regularly escapes to the tracks where he finds solace in the street art of a tagger named Brando who creates stunning murals on the boxcars. After his high school crush, Tessa Rhodes, is brutally murdered at the tracks, Des enters Harvard Law broken hearted and unsure of himself. Later, he emerges stronger, more confident and ready to face the demons he left behind.
He returns to his home in Charleston at the prodding of his trusted mentor, John Taylor, who heads Harvard's School of Law. A secret meeting takes place at the public defender's office whereby Des is inspired by the no B.S. style of the white-haired attorney with a heart for the discriminated. The duo set out to free a young boy, Brandon Michael Thompson, currently on his fourth of a forty-year sentence whom Des later learns has been convicted of the murder of Tessa Rhodes.
Along the way Des struggles with his feelings for Tessa and lingering doubts as to Brandon's innocence. After a brief confrontation he befriends a detective with a chip on his shoulder who reluctantly helps solve the murder. Des accidentally discovers Brandon and Brando are one in the same which ultimately proves his innocence. After a long battle, Brandon is exonerated. The two men form a friendship, both freed from their dark pasts. The real killer is someone closer than you think.
