Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns (Prohibition) teams with his daughter Sarah and her husband David McMahon to examine the facts in the case of five minority teens from Harlem who in 1989 were accused of committing a heinous rape in Central Park, and the failure of the authorities and the media to ensure that justice was served. Hastily tried and convicted as racial tensions in New York City spiked, the innocent teens all served time in prison before a serial rapist shocked authorities by admitting sole responsibility for the brutal sexual assault.