Synopsis

After a woman is brutally raped in a bar one night, a district attorney assists in bringing her attackers to justice, including the ones who encouraged and cheered on the attack.

Based on the real-life gang rape of Cheryl Araujo, The Accused follows the life of working-class woman, Sarah Tobias (Jodie Foster), and her search for justice after being victimised because of her reputation for being promiscuous. One night in a bar, she is set upon by a group of drunken men and gang raped while drunken onlookers cheer them on. A local DA named Kathryn Murphy (Kelly McGillis) is assigned to her case, however at first she seeks to enter a plea bargain with the rapists, believing that if Sarah’s promiscuous past is revealed in court, her attackers may be able to bias the jury against her and avoid any jail time. Sarah is angered by the deal because she considers it a light punishment and the trauma of the attack still haunts her.

When Sarah is hospitalized after ramming her car into the pickup truck of one of her tormentors, Kathryn decides to keep fighting and prosecute the men who cheered the rape for criminal solicitation. Together, the two women along with several sympathetic witnesses are able to convince the jury of the tormentor’s guilt and ensure they serve prison time for reckless endangerment.