This riveting memoir recounts the author Efrem Sigel's experience on a jury in a murder trial and his subsequent investigation of the conditions in East Harlem that led young people to be involved in drug-selling and criminal activity. Besides the trial itself, the book is the story of the failures in NYCHA housing projects, the schools and the criminal justice system, and the efforts of a handful of educators, nonprofit leaders and criminal justice reformers to find pathways to success for these young people. Sigel's quest for the real meaning of the trial took two years of visits to housing projects, police precincts, schools and social service agencies.

In the words of the author, "Quite naturally, I had thought that our jury's vote at the conclusion of the trial would be the end of the story. But I was mistaken. For me the jury verdict was only the beginning."