After a well-orchestrated sting operation, a bookstore manager in California finds himself arrested for selling "The Seven Minutes", a controversial and allegedly obscene novel, to an undercover police officer. Young lawyer Mike Barrett reluctantly agrees to defend the clerk, but the case takes a complicated turn when a copy of the same book is found in the possession of a teenager accused of rape. As a result, ambitious prosecutor Elmo Duncan uses the rape case to launch an anti-pornography campaign ahead of an election. As the trial unfolds, all parties engage in a heated debate about pornography, the media, and free speech. With the book linked to incidents of violence and crime, the defense attorney has his work cut out for him; he must not only defend the erotic novel but also investigate its true authorship and answer a critical question. But what are those mysterious seven minutes all about?