Laurie Barber

Laurie Barber is one of the main characters on the Apple TV+ limited series, Defending Jacob. She is portrayed by Michelle Dockery.

Her son, Jacob Barber was accused of murdering a classmate. Laurie, and her husband Andy Barber, set out to clear Jacob's name and to set out a clear defence strategy.

The accusations against Jacob took their toll on Laurie however, causing her to miss life before Jacob became a target for the media and police services. She was told not to come into work and her best friend, Toby Lanzman, was no longer able to visit her.

Feeling alone, Laurie needed to escape from the pressures at home, as she felt imprisoned in her own house. Going into a Denny's restaurant for the first time, she encountered Jeanine who she thought would be a new friend. She later found out Jeanine was working for the Globe Sunday Magazine, wanting to pry into the Barber family's personal affairs. Leaving Laurie feeling more alone, she was now more determined than ever to defend Jacob and volunteered Andy to meet his long lost father, William Barber, in order to get a DNA swab to help in Jacob's case.

As Andy's visit to his father to gain a swab was unsuccessful, Laurie took matters into her own hands and visited William where she successfully gained a swab. Upon testing swabs from Andy, Jacob, and William the results were revealed by Dr. Vogal. It was revealed that Jacob did not possess the 'murder' gene that Andy and William possess. However, it was revealed that all three generations possess a gene that may create impulsive tendencies, a lack of empathy, and also the possibility of violence. This revelation caused Laurie great distress and asked Dr. Vogal if this meant Jacob could have committed the murder of Benjamin Rifkin. Dr. Vogal could not provide an answer.

With this uncertainty, it was important to Laurie to have Jacob be able to celebrate his birthday especially so close to the trial. With this in mind, they went to a restaurant which was the first public place Jacob had been to in a long time. Laurie decided not to reveal to Jacob that he did have genes similar to William Barber but did seek to comfort Jacob in revealing that he did not possess the 'murder' gene.

Laurie's uncertainty became more apparent when Jacob went to trial and things relating to Jacob's activities came to light that the prosecutor, Neal Loguidice, used as incriminating evidence. The statement from Derek Yoo revealed that Jacob possessed pornography and violent images on his computer, as well as a story he had written online that pertained to Ben Rifkin's murder. This evidence proved to be the final straw for Laurie who would later confess to Andy that she did not believe her son and she believed he committed the murder.

During the trial, new details came to light that Leonard Patz had hung himself and written a confession to the murder of Ben Rifkin. With this, the case against Jacob was dismissed. Laurie felt a huge wave of relief after this and she agreed to the family going to Mexico on a preplanned holiday. There, Laurie was very content, according to Andy, and free from any guilt experienced during the ordeal with Jacob.

However, this was short lived when a girl Jacob met, Hope Connors, went missing not long after he went to a party with her. With this revelation, at night at the hotel, Andy revealed to Laurie that Leonard Patz did not commit suicide and was killed by James O'Leary, hired by William Barber. This made Laurie mentally distraught and made her once again doubt her son for both the murder of Ben and the disappearance of Hope.

Despite Hope being found and Jacob's name cleared again, Laurie remained unsure and untrusting of her son given the revelation from Andy. She was a ghost of herself for days. She agreed to take Jacob to get his hair cut while Andy prepared to move house. On this car journey, Laurie was distressed and asked Jacob if he murdered Ben. While asking further questions about this, she proceeded to accelerate quickly worrying Jacob. After Jacob did not give what she perceived to be the truth she swerved and crashed into a wall, leaving Jacob in a coma and her also in hospital.

A flash forward to events after this showed Neal Loguidice questioning Andy on this, wanting him to reveal that Laurie did this intentionally. Andy maintained it was an accident and Laurie was not indicted.