Martha Cobb is a female right-wing pundit who has built her career on inflammatory rhetoric and publicity stunts. During her speech at Hudson University, a riot erupts between far-right and far-left agitators. During the riot, Martha's bodyguard is knocked out and Martha herself is sexually assaulted by use of a sign pole. The police recovers little to no forensic evidence from the assault, and there are no known witnesses. The victim seems to be fabricating part of her story, for publicity reasons. The police locate two viable suspects. One is Justin Vichinsky, a far-left activist who hates Martha with a passion and who had physically attacked her shortly before the rape. The other is Randy Platt, the leader of a far-right organization. He is a "loony fan" of Martha, with a history of obsessively following her across several U.S. States and sexually harassing her. The case goes to trial, which soon turns into a media circus. Since the police can not prove which of the two suspects attacked her, and since Martha's own narrative is unreliable, Barba moves to dismiss the indictment. The political supporters of both suspects proclaim their victory, while Martha promises to write a book about the failures of the criminal justice system.
—Dimos I