Counsel for the defence Guido Guerrieri is asked to handle the appeal of Fabio Paolicelli, who has been sentenced to 16 years for drug smuggling. The odds are stacked against the accused - not only because he initially confessed to the crime, but also because of his past as a neo-fascist thug. It is only the intervention of Paolicelli's beautiful half-Japanese wife that finally overcomes Guerrieri's reluctance to help him.