Jacob Barber

Jacob Owen "Jake" Barber is the titular character of the Apple TV+ limited series, Defending Jacob. He is played by Jaeden Martell.

He was accused of murdering a classmate, Benjamin Rifkin. Ben was found in Cold Spring Park the morning Jacob walked to school. Jacob was not a suspect to begin with and his father, Andy Barber, worked on the case and Leonard Patz was a suspect initially investigated.

Jacob was eventually made a key suspect after a fingerprint that matched his was found on Ben's jacket. This led to Andy having to contact Joanna Klein to defend Jacob in court, while he carried out his own off the record investigation into the murder, including the continued pursuit of Leonard Patz.

Pupils at Archer Middle School accused Jacob of the murder and carried on with this once he was arrested. Derek Yoo, Jacob's best friend, was the first to accuse him and mentioned the knife Jacob possessed which Andy subsequently threw away.

In order to clear Jacob's name swiftly, Andy, Laurie, and Jacob met with Joanna Klein regularly to discuss the case. Upon a meeting to refine Jacob's story, inconsistencies were found which caused Joanna to become impatient. This lead to a decision to have the defence attack the prosecution's argument rather than have Jacob tell his side of the story.

A friend at school, Sarah Grohl, became friends with Jacob and played video games at the Barber home. After Jacob subsequently found out that Sarah knew more about Derek's potential involvement than she had let on to him, he broke off the friendship.

As the trial neared, Jacob became nervous and was anxious to find out news from Andy about the case. When it was revealed Leonard Patz was once again a suspect, this gave Jacob a sense of relief. However, Jacob became anxious to hear the results of his weekly meetings with Dr. Vogal. Andy and Laurie would not tell Jacob the full truth but revealed that he did not have the 'murder' gene. What they did not reveal was that Jacob had the gene that likely caused a lack of empathy within him and a tendency for impulsive, aggressive behavior. This created a link with his grandfather, William Barber, and also opened the door to have his sentence reduced if he was found guilty of the murder of Ben Rifkin.

The trial began for Jacob and details came to light that he was not expecting to be a big deal but instead were used as incriminating evidence by prosecutor, Neal Loguidice. This included revelations that Jacob possessed pornography and violent images on his computer, as well as a story he had written which bore a striking resemblance to the circumstances in which Ben Rifkin was murdered. This made Jacob very uneasy and also led to his parents directly asking him if he committed the murder. Through tears, Jacob said he did not but trust from his parents and the media diminished significantly, leading Jacob to turn once again to Sarah for support.

The following day, much to Jacob and his family's surprise, learn that Leonard Patz had hung himself after leaving a confession to murdering Ben. His case was dismissed first thing in the morning, much to his family's delight. However, Dan Rifkin still believes he's guilty.

The Barber's adapt to their new normal, knowing they can't go back to how their lives once were after their ordeal. They decide to spend a Christmas holiday in Mexico. There, he meets Hope Connors, who he quickly befriends. During New Year's Eve, he decides to attend a party on the beach with her. However, after an argument, he left early. After Hope is declared missing, Jacob became the primary suspect until Hope was eventually found.

After returning home from their second ordeal, Jacob noticed his mother had changed her attitude toward him. While being driven to get a haircut, Jacob was asked by Laurie if he really killed Ben. When Jacob claimed he didn't, Laurie accelerated and demanded Jacob tell the truth. Jacob said he did kill Ben but says he did so to get her to stop. However, Laurie continued to accelerate and eventually swerved the car, crashing by a tunnel, leaving Jacob in a coma.

Behind the scenes

 * Jaeden Martell previously worked with Chris Evans in Knives Out, which was filmed just prior to Defending Jacob. Coincidentially, his character in Knives Out was also named Jacob.