Plot

A high-profile murder intrigues a publicity hungry lawyer.

When a young man, Aaron, is charged with the horrific murder of Archbishop Rushman, hot-shot Chicago lawyer Martin Vail takes on his defense at no charge. Aaron was a homeless street kid before he was taken in by the Archbishop. He's shy and speaks with a stammer. Vail is convinced that Aaron is innocent but after discovering a video that shows Aaron may have had good reason to want the Archbishop dead, he begins to question that conclusion. When Aaron lashes out at the psychologist examining him another personality, Roy, is revealed. With the trial already underway, Vail cannot change Aaron plea and so has to find a way to introduce his client's condition. Aaron has something of a surprise for him as well.—garykmcd

Martin Vail left the Chicago DA's office to become a successful criminal lawyer, that success predicated on working on high profile cases. As such, he fights to get the case of naive nineteen year old rural Kentuckian Aaron Stampler, an altar boy accused of the vicious bludgeoning death of Archbishop Rushman of Chicago. The story that Aaron tells Marty is that he, abused by his father, was in the room when the murder was committed by a third party, a shadowy figure he did not see, before he blacked out, which commonly happens to him. Not remembering anything during the blackout period, he awoke covered in the archbishop's blood, his fright the reason he ran from the police. He also states that he had no reason to kill the archbishop, who he loved as the father he wished he had. Marty doesn't care if he is guilty or innocent, but needs to know the truth to defend him adequately. Unlike the rest of the world, Marty does believe his story, he who hopes he can use Aaron's general appearance of being an innocent to his advantage. The powerful state attorney, John Shaughnessy, who Marty has had many a moral run-in, wants a first degree murder conviction and the death penalty in this case. He appoints to the case Janet Venable, who still has bad feelings toward Marty, an ex-lover, their six month relationship which ended badly. Although the case looks to be a slam dunk for Janet, her career may be made or broken by its outcome. In building his case, Marty comes across some major pieces of information, some pertaining to the Archbishop himself, and one uncovered by Dr. Molly Arrington about Aaron, she a psychiatrist hired by Marty to assess Aaron's mental state. These pieces of information as a collective pose a problem for Marty in how to mount a credible and legitimate defense for his client. It is more of a moral dilemma for Marty if only because he believes the life of a young man, who he believes in, is at stake.—Huggo

As the brutal murder of Chicago's beloved archbishop by the hand of the shy nineteen-year-old altar boy, Aaron Stampler, makes the headlines, the high-profile defence attorney, Martin Vail, takes the opportunity to be in the spotlight. Pro bono, Vail is eager to represent the penniless defendant and the case's seemingly obvious murderer; however, Aaron appears to know more than he lets on. Under those circumstances, is Stampler truly guilty of murder, or was he framed? Above all, is the arrogant and cynical lawyer prepared to dig deep into the popular priest's past to unearth the truth?—Nick Riganas

Martin Vail (Richard Gere) is a prominent, cynical defense attorney in Chicago who loves the public spotlight and does everything he can to get his high-paying clients off crimes they commit on legal technicalities. One day, Vail sees a news report about the arrest of Aaron Stampler (Edward Norton), a young, stuttering, simpleton altar boy accused of murdering the beloved and highly respected Archbishop Rushman (Stanley Anderson) of the Catholic Church in Chicago. As a result, Vail jumps at the chance to represent the young man pro-Bono.

At first, the spotlight-loving Vail is interested primarily in the publicity that the case will bring, yet during his meetings at the county jail with Aaron, Vail comes to believe that his client is truly innocent, much to the chagrin of the prosecutor (and Vail's former lover), Janet Venable (Laura Linney). Vail believes that Aaron has a split personality & his other aggressive self takes control of Aaron's body & makes him perform violent acts.

As the murder trial begins, Vail discovers that powerful civic leaders, including the corrupt District Attorney John Shaughnessy (John Mahoney) as well as the mayor and even the regional governor, have lost millions of dollars in real estate investments due to a decision by the Archbishop not to develop on certain church lands. The Archbishop received numerous death threats as a result. Vail also learns through the grapevine that the archbishop had been sexually abusing altar boys, including Stampler.

Introducing this evidence, while it would make Stampler more sympathetic to the jury, would also give his client a motive for murder, something the prosecution otherwise has lacked. The trial does not proceed well for the defense, as there is considerable evidence against Stampler since he was found running from the crime scene of the Archbishop's apartment with blood splattered all over his clothes, and he claims not to remember anything about the murder. However, public opinion holds Stampler almost certainly guilty and there are denials by the public about the Archbishop's true nature.

After Vail sneaks into the Archbishop's apartment to look for more evidence, he finds a pornographic videotape of Aaron Stampler with another altar boy and a teenage girl, named Linda, performing in sexual acts while the Archbishop is filming everything. Vail anonymously sends a copy of it to Janet knowing that she will introduce it as evidence, against the advice of D.A. John Shaughnessy who wants to keep his dirty dealings with Archbishop Rushman suppressed at any cost.

When Vail confronts his client and accuses him of having lied, Aaron breaks down crying and suddenly transforms into a new persona: a violent, foul-mouthed sociopath who calls himself "Roy." He confesses to the murder of the Archbishop for the years of molestation and abuse. "Roy" then throws Vail against a wall of his jail cell, injuring him. When this incident is over, Aaron Stampler reemerges and appears to have no recollection of it. Molly Arrington (Frances McDormand), the psychiatrist examining Aaron, is convinced he suffers from multiple personality disorder due to childhood abuse by his own father, in which resurfaced following the molestation of the Archbishop upon him. However, Vail realizes that he cannot enter an insanity plea during an ongoing trial.

As a result, Vail begins to set up a confrontation in court by dropping hints about the Archbishop's true nature as well as Aaron's multi-personality disorder. While searching for Linda, the young teen girl in the video, Vail finds her decomposing dead body in a vacant lot, but there is no clues or evidence to link Aaron to her murder.

At the climax, Vail puts Aaron on the witness stand where he gently probes him in direct examination over his unhappy childhood and troubled dealings with the Archbishop. During cross-examination, after Janet Venable questions him harshly, Aaron turns into Roy in open court and charges at her, threatening to snap her neck if anyone comes near him. Aaron is subdued by courthouse marshals and is rushed back to his holding cell.

In light of Aaron's apparent insanity, the judge (Alfre Woodard) dismisses the jury in favor of a bench trial and then finds Aaron not guilty by reason of mental insanity, and remands him to a maximum-security mental hospital. Yet afterwords, Janet is fired from her job by her boss for allowing the corrupt dealings of the Archbishop to be made public as well as the sexual abuse of altar boys that both the Catholic Church and the city council have been trying to keep under wraps.

In the final scene, Vail visits Aaron in his cell to tell him this news. Aaron says he recalls nothing of what happened in the courtroom, having again "lost time." However, just as Vail is leaving, Aaron asks him to: "tell Miss Venable I hope her neck is okay," which is not something that Aaron should have been able to remember if he had "lost time." Due to this slip, Vail points this out, whereupon Aaron Stampler grins slyly and reveals that he has been pretending to be insane the whole time. No longer stuttering or speaking in a Southern accent, the murderous but perfectly sane Aaron admits that he didn't make up the identity of Roy. He made up the character of Aaron.

Aaron Stampler now admits to having murdered Archbishop Rushman, as well as his girlfriend, Linda, whom the cleric also had molested. Aware that he would not get away with killing the Archbishop, Aaron made up his simpleton personality to gain sympathy from his lawyer as well as the judge and jury, and when his scheme become compromised, he made up the name of 'Roy' (his real dominant and sociopath personality) to make it appear that he committed the murder under a split personality (which Aaron really doesn't have). Stunned and disillusioned at how he was so easily fooled by his own client, Vail walks away, with Aaron/Roy taunting him from the cell. Vail leaves the courthouse through the back door and takes a taxi away, now angrier and more frustrated than ever, but ashamed to be in the public light anymore.