From the publisher
In a world where the line between man and machine has become increasingly blurred, a robotic household maintenance unit is arrested for murder, and the dead man's widow decides to defend the machine herself. For the case is not just about murder. The prosecution wants the court to rule that no machine can stand trial, because no machine has rights under the law. Except there are very good reasons to argue this one does -- because the prosecution beleives the dead man is very much alive, his mind stored inside the robot. In effect, the victim has been arrested for murdering himself.