A young woman accused of murdering the jailer who raped her, escapes from jail and becomes a fugitive.

Dinah Hunter is a Los Angeles advertising executive who stumbles into a waking nightmare during a road trip from L.A. to New York when she's terrorized on the road by two hitchhickers who steal her car. Then, she ends up in smalltown jail by a corrupt sheriff who hates outsiders. When her jailer tries to rape her in the holding cell, she kills him, escapes and becomes a fugitive in which she ends up back on the road with one of her hitchihker tormenters who could prove her innocence.—Anonymous

The story initially follows the same trajectory as 'Jackson County Jail', with protagonist Dinah Hunter (Yvette Mimieux) traveling cross-country from Los Angeles, having her car and possessions stolen near a small town, arrested for vagrancy, and assaulted by the night jailer, whom she beats to death afterward. The film then changes course from the original film with Dinah staying in the jail rather than fleeing, intending to plead her case. Dinah is put on trial, convicted by a bias judge, and transferred to a larger prison, where she is reunited with Lola (Nancy Lee Noble), one of the two hitchhikers that previously stole her car now who is now serving time for a unrelated robbery charge. She learns to adapt to prison life and befriends other inmates. A prison fire provides opportunity for Dinah, Lola, and other women to escape. Dinah proceeds to have several unusual interludes with others, including a brief intimate encounter with a concert pianist (John Lawlor), as she goes about her long-term quest to elude the police and prove her innocence.—matt-282