A mentally challenged young man is found guilty of hitting another man over the head with a mallet. The judge is upset by the poor defense given the accused and is angry with the jury for giving their verdict without discussing the evidence. Thinking that someone must have planned the murder, he enlists a young lawyer, Ken Paulsen, to try to determine how the youth could be made to commit the murder, and what there was about the victim that made someone want to see him dead. Who benefited by the murder? Cui bono?