Romanian immigrant and furniture dealer Nicholas Iliescu is shot in the back of the head and dragged by car. They look into his furniture store where people who used credit card numbers frequently had them stolen. The detectives think his brother Alex did it, but he is found stabbed to death in his apartment. Evidence points to his son Leon, who had been living in America for a number of years with his uncle Nicholas. His lawyer tries using "cultural insanity" as a defense; Alex Iliescu had been a part of Romania's Securitate (Secret Police) and his son witnessed plenty of brutality watching his father beat, torture, and kill others.
- False Confession: Nicholas's wife confessed to the murder of his brother. The brother's own son was the actual murderer.
- Lamarck Was Right: Leon's lawyer (Alan King) tries to use this as a defense for him at the trial, because of what his father did.
- Secret Police: The Securitate were this in Romania and Alex had worked for them before coming to America.
- Shout-Out: Of a sort. A musician in one of the clubs gets a close up as he walks past the detectives, and he's a clear copy of Axl Rose.
