Eric Fisher, a 17-year-old kid with addiction issues, is taken into custody after his mother is brutally murdered in her San Fernando Valley home in 1983. Eric's devastated father, lawyer Henry Fisher, tries to help his son.

In 2003, twenty years after the murder of Mary Fisher, Internal Affairs Officer Sgt. Ian Lynch is assigned to investigate Eric's claim of official misconduct against Russell.

Eric meets Detective Russell for the first time to press charges against a former girlfriend. Eric throws a party at his flat with the help of his older friend and neighbour Trey Carano that quickly spins out of control.

To receive a more lenient prison sentence, Eric pleads guilty and submits to an extensive psychological evaluation. Detective Russell, convinced of Eric's guilt, does his best to make sure Eric receives the harshest sentence possible.

Eric's friend from rehab is interrogated about a crime he committed in New Mexico, which brings new information to light that may help Eric's defence. Eric is transferred from a juvenile facility to county jail.

As riots erupt after the Rodney King verdicts, Henry Fisher pays an emotional visit to Eric in prison and confronts him with a very difficult question; Eric, entangled in a deadly prison feud, must decide where his loyalties lie.