The novel opens with a courtroom scene, as the narrator — later identified as Grant Wiggins, a black teacher at the local plantation school — recounts the trial of Jefferson, a twenty-one-year-old uneducated black man accused of robbery and murder. Through a series of flashbacks, we learn that Jefferson is innocent, despite the circumstantial evidence that places him at the scene of the crime. Among those in attendance are Miss Emma, Jefferson's godmother, and Tante Lou, Grant's aunt.
During the course of the trial, held on a Friday morning, we hear three different versions of what happened the night that storekeeper Alcee Gropé was killed. First, we hear Jefferson's story, as presented by (1) the narrator of the novel. Then, we hear the story from the perspectives of (2) the prosecuting attorney and that of (3) Jefferson's court-appointed defense attorney. As part of his so-called defense strategy, Jefferson's attorney refers to his client as "it" and contends that this "thing" is incapable of knowing right from wrong and lacks the intelligence to have planned the robbery. In short, he attempts to convince the jury that Jefferson is simply an animal that acted on impulse, and that executing him would be like putting "a hog in the electric chair." Despite this very demeaning "defense," the all-white jury finds Jefferson guilty of robbery and first-degree murder, and the judge sets Jefferson's sentencing for the following Monday.
On Monday morning, Miss Emma and Tante Lou are back in court, along with Rev. Mose Ambrose, the local pastor. When Jefferson is brought before the judge and asked if he has anything to say prior to his sentencing, he hangs his head and declines to speak. The judge sentences him to death by electrocution, with the date to be set by the governor.
