Sisters of the Midnight Sun Characters

Public defender from South Carolina who practices in Utqiagvik and represents clients including Amos Lane, John Adams, and Randy Ahtanguarak. She is widowed, fascinated by the Arctic, and committed to due process even when clients are unpopular. She is known to colleagues as Ms. Wright and to locals as Miss Becky or Rebecca-KAH.

Arc: She moves from outsider defending an accused man to a burned-out lawyer who loses Randy, sees Adams acquitted, and leaves Utqiagvik. Years later she investigates Amos's family history and tries to make peace with the unresolved case.

• Amos Lane — her client
• John Adams — her client during his trial
• Elizabeth Kanayurak — office manager and close friend
• Michael Nusunginya — romantic interest
• Ed Ellingsworth — law-enforcement antagonist
• Jim Stevens — future husband
• Kent — late husband
• Siku — dog she adopts

Lead detective in the Ipalook murder case and Rebecca's law-enforcement antagonist. He secretly tape-records a conversation with Rebecca, pressures her for client information, and interrogates John Adams into a confession by feeding him a narrative. He later adopts a lower profile and stops serving as lead investigator.

Arc: He starts as an aggressive, desperate detective who targets Amos, then switches to John Adams; after the acquittal and perjury fallout he fades from the investigation.

• Rebecca Wright — defense attorney he pressures
• Amos Lane — initial suspect
• John Adams — suspect he interrogates
• Officer Marten — fellow investigator
• Joe Slusser — passes along his wishes
• Theo Johnson — young man he persecuted

An Inupiat man from Point Hope who is Rebecca's client and the primary suspect in the Ipalook sisters' murders. He has a prior sexual-assault conviction, frostbitten amputations, and an alcohol problem, and he is in treatment at SATS; his mother was raped and murdered when he was fourteen. He agrees to immunized testimony, later pleads no contest to perjury, and dies in a police shootout in Fairbanks in 2022.

Arc: He moves from jailed suspect to immune witness to perjury convict and back to treatment; his story ends in addiction and a shootout, leaving the Ipalook murders unsolved.

• Rebecca Wright — his public defender
• Elizabeth Kanayurak — lent him a shirt at trial
• Pete Petersen — alcohol-treatment counselor
• John Adams — defendant who attacks him in court
• Harriet Lane — murdered mother
• Bobby Nashookpuk — neighbor who killed his mother
• Lennie Lane — father
• Eunice — sister
• Eunice Toorak — mother of his child
• Nate Olemaun — cousin
• Bernice Ipalook — one of the women he was suspected of killing
• Wanda Ipalook — one of the women he was suspected of killing

Bernice Ipalook's fiancé and father of Eqalin; he is the man Ellingsworth interrogates into a confession after switching suspicion away from Amos Lane. Although indicted on two counts of first-degree murder, his confession is not believed by the jury, and he is acquitted. He is later cleared of all charges and returns to raising Eqalin with the Ipalook family.

Arc: From bereaved fiancé and suspect to indicted defendant, then acquitted and restored to his job and family.

• Bernice Ipalook — fiancée and murder victim
• Wanda Ipalook — murder victim
• Eqalin — daughter
• Nelson Traverso — defense attorney
• Ed Ellingsworth — interrogator
• Amos Lane — man he lunges at in court
• Rebecca Wright — attorney at trial

Office manager of the Utqiagvik public defender's office, known as Liz, and Rebecca's closest friend. An Inupiaq woman, she warns Rebecca about Amos Lane and Michael, shares her own traumatic past, and later relapses into addiction before detoxing. She dies of COPD in 2020 after staying in touch with Rebecca by phone and Facebook.

Arc: She actively cares for Rebecca and Randy while struggling with addiction herself; after recovery she remains a touchstone for Rebecca until her death.

• Rebecca Wright — friend and coworker
• Randy Ahtanguarak — advocate
• Amos Lane — man she believes is guilty
• Michael Nusunginya — man she warned Rebecca about
• Carol — coworker she threatens
• Jeff — husband
• Deva — sister
• Jaeleen — daughter
• Orin — son

Inupiat man who becomes Rebecca's romantic interest and brings her into his family and community. He shares whaling traditions and warns her about polar bears, but he also has a cocaine addiction and confesses to selling his land allotment and using family Permanent Fund checks for drugs. He is arrested in Fairbanks after taking his paycheck there.

Arc: From warm, familiar partner to an addict in crisis; after his arrest he disappears from Rebecca's life, though she glimpses him at the airport when she leaves.

• Rebecca Wright — romantic interest
• Bull — brother-in-law whose life he saved
• Mamie — mother
• Sally — sister
• Jer — sister
• Ranger — nephew
• Elizabeth Kanayurak — warned Rebecca about him

District attorney who faces Rebecca in Amos Lane's bail hearing and later handles the grand jury subpoena, eventually granting Amos full transactional immunity. As 'DA Joe,' he also shows Rebecca the Ipalook crime scene and shares information as the case develops. He works with Ellingsworth on trial exhibits.

Arc: He moves from prosecuting Amos Lane to granting him immunity and then assisting at the Adams trial.

• Rebecca Wright — opposing counsel
• Amos Lane — defendant then witness
• Ed Ellingsworth — colleague
• Judge Jeffery — appears before him
• Officer Marten — witness he calls

Court-appointed attorney for John Adams, appointed by Judge Jeffery by telephone. He requests a psych eval and an expert on involuntary confessions, and he tells Rebecca he is going after Amos Lane. In court he restrains Adams when Adams lunges toward Amos.

Arc: He builds Adams's defense around attacking Amos Lane, and Adams is acquitted.

• John Adams — client
• Amos Lane — man he targets
• Rebecca Wright — fellow attorney
• Judge Jeffery — appointed him

Sixteen-year-old client Rebecca and Liz try to help; his mother is dying of cancer, his father is absent, and he works thirty to forty hours a week while caring for her. Friends remembered him as sometimes knowing things ahead of time and some thought he was a shaman. After his mother dies, he shoots his girlfriend and then himself.

Arc: From overwhelmed teenager at risk to victim of a murder-suicide; Rebecca later memorializes him with an annual donation to a basketball team.

• Rebecca Wright — attorney and guardian ad litem
• Elizabeth Kanayurak — advocate
• Marvin Ahtanguarak — father
• Maggie — mother
• Tarzan — friend
• Ayla Eqalin — friend who mentioned him in a suicide note

Public Safety officer who testifies about Amos Lane's criminal record at the bail hearing and later participates in secretly recording Rebecca. He is exhausted and under pressure from the mayor, governor's office, and media.

Arc: He goes from cooperative witness to part of an unethical investigation, apologizing for the recording stunt.

• Rebecca Wright — police officer who has worked with her
• Ed Ellingsworth — fellow investigator
• Joe Slusser — calls him as witness
• Amos Lane — testified against him

Judge who presides over the bail hearing, the immunity hearing, Bertha Okpeaha's custody case, and the John Adams trial. He maintains courtroom order, denies Amos's request to be unshackled, and later suppresses evidence and grants a change of venue.

Arc: From magistrate aware of public pressure to judge who concludes a fair jury cannot be selected in Utqiagvik.

• Rebecca Wright — defense counsel
• Amos Lane — defendant and witness
• John Adams — defendant
• Nelson Traverso — appointed counsel
• Joe Slusser — prosecutor
• Bertha Okpeaha — custody case

Rebecca's office assistant/coworker who is often resentful and clashes with Liz; she believes Amos Lane should be prosecuted and once abandons Dr. Sanderson instead of watching him. She later offers to dog-sit for Rebecca's house.

Arc: Remains a difficult colleague, but in the end helps by offering to watch the house.

• Rebecca Wright — boss and coworker
• Elizabeth Kanayurak — coworker she argues with
• Amos Lane — client she thinks should be prosecuted
• Dr. Sanderson — she failed to babysit him

Amos Lane's alcohol-treatment counselor at SATS who tells Rebecca that Amos has worked hard and reveals the murder of Amos's mother. He testifies at the bail hearing that Amos is in substantial compliance and that relapse is part of recovery.

Arc: Supports Amos's treatment and remains a source of information about his past.

• Amos Lane — treatment patient
• Rebecca Wright — defense attorney he informs

One of the two Ipalook sisters murdered in Utqiagvik; John Adams's fiancée and Eqalin's mother. She was reportedly drunk and laughing the night she died, threw her engagement ring at John, and got onto the back of Amos Lane's three-wheeler.

Arc: No personal arc; her death and her sister's drive the murder investigation that remains unsolved.

• Wanda Ipalook — sister
• John Adams — fiancé
• Eqalin — daughter
• Amos Lane — man she rode behind on a three-wheeler

One of the two Ipalook sisters murdered in Utqiagvik; Bernice's sister. She was seen drunk and loud on the weekend of the murders and borrowed cigarettes from Wiley Ungarook.

Arc: No personal arc; her death is central to the unresolved case.

• Bernice Ipalook — sister
• John Adams — alleged killer
• Amos Lane — suspected killer
• Wiley Ungarook — neighbor
• Florence Okpeaha — schoolmate

An FCC inmate and acclaimed ivory artist from the Slope who raped and killed Amos Lane's mother, Harriet Lane. He pleads no contest to second-degree murder, serves time, is released, commits more assaults, and is later incarcerated with a release date of 2060. He tries to tell Rebecca about Amos, but she cannot hear him due to a conflict.

Arc: From convicted murderer to prison artist; he remains part of the backstory linking Amos's trauma to the Ipalook case.

• Harriet Lane — victim
• Amos Lane — former neighbor and victim's son
• Rebecca Wright — public defender who cannot represent him
• Elizabeth Kanayurak — advocate who urged the visit

Randy's father and Maggie's husband; Rebecca travels to Anaktuvuk Pass to confront him about Randy's suicide risk. He deflects her concerns, claims his wife's illness is expensive, and later leads her to a hidden VIP lounge and offers her a drink.

Arc: He remains dismissive and self-protective, and Randy's death follows.

• Randy Ahtanguarak — son
• Maggie — wife
• Rebecca Wright — visitor

Amos Lane's mother, who was raped and tortured to death in Point Hope on July 9, 1985, during the days of endless light. Her murder was never prosecuted for years, and Bobby Nashookpuk eventually pleads no contest to second-degree murder for her death.

Arc: No personal arc; her death shapes Amos's life and links the Ipalook sisters' deaths to the midnight sun.

• Amos Lane — son
• Lennie Lane — husband
• Bobby Nashookpuk — murderer

Amos Lane's cousin, a young Inupiat man with a wife and baby, interviewed by Rebecca about Amos's behavior at the dugout. He describes Amos's violence and family story, including the unprosecuted murder of Harriet Lane, but asks not to testify.

Arc: Provides key information about Amos but refuses to go near court again.

• Amos Lane — cousin
• Kiana — wife
• Harriet Lane — aunt
• Rebecca Wright — former defense attorney and interviewer

Nate's wife, who brings beers and nurses her baby while prompting Nate to talk. She tells Rebecca that Amos followed Bernice and Wanda and that Bernice got on behind him.

Arc: No major arc; supplies testimony about the night of the murders.

• Nate Olemaun — husband
• Amos Lane — cousin by marriage
• Rebecca Wright — interviewer

Neighbor of the Ipalook sisters who tells police that Wanda came to borrow a cigarette and took half a pack; he cannot remember whether it was Saturday or Sunday morning. He later becomes one of Rebecca's clients in Fairbanks, but his memory has not improved.

Arc: Fades into the background as an unreliable witness and then a client.

• Wanda Ipalook — neighbor who borrowed cigarettes
• Bernice Ipalook — neighbor
• Rebecca Wright — public defender

Inupiaq elder who predicts weather daily, patrols the community with other elders, and praises the men who save Rebecca from a polar bear. He blesses Rebecca at the air shack, and she later imagines his counsel about seeking peace rather than justice.

Arc: Remains a steady elder presence from the bear rescue to Rebecca's memory of him.

• Rebecca Wright — blessed her
• Matu — praised after bear kill
• Clair Okpeaha — praised after bear kill
• Jens Paningonna — grandson convicted of murder

Rebecca's neighbor and patriarch who long ago witnessed the plane crash that killed Will Rogers and Wiley Post. In the present, he shoots and kills the polar bear attacking Rebecca, saving her life.

Arc: From historical witness to active rescuer in the bear attack.

• Rebecca Wright — neighbor and survivor he saves
• Matu — snow machine companion
• Joshua Ahvakana — elder who praises him

Snow machine driver who helps Clair Okpeaha charge the polar bear threatening Rebecca. He later examines the bear, notes it was hungry, and hugs Rebecca, glad she is okay.

Arc: No major arc; appears in the bear-rescue scene.

• Clair Okpeaha — companion
• Rebecca Wright — rescued woman
• Joshua Ahvakana — praises him

A stray sled dog who appears at Rebecca's boardwalk and is bought from a Native family for $250. She becomes Rebecca's companion, dislikes being left behind, and is recognized as alpha by backwoods dogs in Kentucky.

Arc: From stray to beloved pet who travels with Rebecca when she leaves the Arctic.

• Rebecca Wright — owner

Rebecca's former law school classmate who calls her out of the blue from Memphis after learning she was widowed. He later elopes with her to New Orleans and works as a prosecutor in Kentucky; Liz correctly predicts the relationship.

Arc: Reconnects with Rebecca and becomes her second husband, giving her a path out of Utqiagvik.

• Rebecca Wright — wife
• Elizabeth Kanayurak — predicted the relationship

Rebecca's late husband, who died in a car wreck; she remembers the trooper's news and his uneaten dinner.

Arc: No arc; his death shapes Rebecca's grief and her hesitations in later relationships.

• Rebecca Wright — widow

A semi-friend/acquaintance who brings Rebecca a seashell after a vacation in Palau and later shows up when needed with a beautiful seashell for Randy's mom. At Michael's family barbecue, a Della is also among the girlfriends who shyly offer Rebecca a hand.

Arc: No major arc; she repeatedly appears as a bearer of seashells and kindness.

• Rebecca Wright — friend and acquaintance
• Randy Ahtanguarak — his mother received a seashell

Local woman who sends champagne to Rebecca's birthday party because Rebecca got her little brother Jimbo Matumeak off an assault case years ago.

Arc: No major arc; shows reciprocity for past legal help.

• Jimbo Matumeak — little brother
• Rebecca Wright — helped her brother

Lucy Renfro's little brother whose assault case Rebecca handled years ago.

Arc: No major arc; only mentioned as the reason for Lucy's gratitude.

• Lucy Renfro — sister
• Rebecca Wright — former attorney

Known as Seismic Isaac, he DJs Rebecca's birthday party for free and later announces on KBRW that the temperature has fallen to a hundred below. He plays 'Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain' at Michael's request.

Arc: No major arc; appears as a community figure and weather announcer.

• Elizabeth Kanayurak — asked him to DJ
• Rebecca Wright — his family received prison calls at her office
• Michael Nusunginya — requested a song

Known as Tuna, Rebecca's former client who dances with her at the birthday party and tells her to stop working so hard. He later hugs Rebecca-KAH and offers her and Michael a share of a landed bowhead whale as another birthday present.

Arc: Remains a warm, generous presence in Rebecca's life.

• Rebecca Wright — former client and friend
• Michael Nusunginya — receives whale share

Limo driver who takes Rebecca and Michael to the freshwater lake after the birthday party; she is saving money to buy a ranch in New Mexico.

Arc: No major arc.

• Rebecca Wright — limo passenger
• Michael Nusunginya — limo passenger

Michael's mother and the matriarch of the Nusunginya family. She survived the TB and measles epidemic that killed her parents, gives Rebecca ivory earrings at the barbecue, and tells Michael to treat her right.

Arc: From cautious matriarch to accepting Rebecca, at least for Michael's sake.

• Michael Nusunginya — son
• Sally — daughter
• Jer — daughter
• Bull — son-in-law
• Rebecca Wright — guest who receives earrings
• Angela — grandchild whose life she wants to be easier
• Jacob — nephew
• Jack — nephew

Michael's sister who needed Rebecca to play softball to avoid forfeiting; she breastfeeds Danielle at the barbecue and holds Angela at the game. She whispers that Rebecca and Michael are cute together.

Arc: No major arc; helps welcome Rebecca into the family.

• Michael Nusunginya — brother
• Jer — sister
• Mamie — mother
• Ranger — son
• Danielle — daughter
• Angela — holds her
• Rebecca Wright — teammate

Michael's other sister who brings a huge pot of caribou stew to the barbecue and barks orders at relatives. She later summons a girl from a car to hold Angela so the BP team can take the field.

Arc: No major arc; active in family and softball scenes.

• Michael Nusunginya — brother
• Sally — sister
• Mamie — mother
• Rebecca Wright — host

Michael's brother-in-law who gives him and Rebecca rides and says a tethered dog is a polar bear warning. He is grateful to Michael for saving his life on the ice and brings food to the barbecue.

Arc: No major arc; appears as family figure and Michael's friend.

• Michael Nusunginya — brother-in-law whose life he saved
• Mamie — mother-in-law
• Rebecca Wright — host

Sally's young son who thinks Rebecca is a rich tanik, demands 7UP, and wants to sit by Michael. Michael kisses his head.

Arc: No major arc.

• Sally — mother
• Michael Nusunginya — uncle
• Rebecca Wright — gave him 7UP

Toddler who toddles into the kitchen at the barbecue and is picked up by Rebecca; later sleeps in Sally's arms or on Rebecca's lap during the softball game. Mamie wants her life to be easier than Mamie's own was.

Arc: No major arc.

• Sally — caregiver
• Mamie — grandmother
• Rebecca Wright — holds her

A slender, serious-faced girl who comes into the barbecue carrying a doll, nudged by Mary.

Arc: No major arc.

• Mary — companion

A plump child who nudges Stacy to proceed into the kitchen at the barbecue.

Arc: No major arc.

• Stacy — companion

A baby carried by Sally and breastfed at the kitchen table during the barbecue.

Arc: No major arc.

• Sally — mother

One of Mamie's nephews at the barbecue who waves and smirks at Rebecca.

Arc: No major arc.

• Mamie — aunt

One of Mamie's nephews at the barbecue who waves and smirks at Rebecca.

Arc: No major arc.

• Mamie — aunt

One of the girlfriends at the barbecue who shyly offers Rebecca a damp hand.

Arc: No major arc.

Public Safety officer who first responded to the Ipalook house and later tells Rebecca what he saw, haunted by the bodies. He distrusts Detective Ed and believes neither Amos Lane nor John Adams killed the sisters, suspecting drug dealers from the Fourth of July weekend.

Arc: Carries trauma from the crime scene and speaks out because he fears how the department is handling the case.

• Rebecca Wright — friend who stuck up for him
• Massey — fellow officer
• Ed Ellingsworth — detective he distrusts
• Amos Lane — believes not guilty
• John Adams — believes not guilty

Officer who responded with Tidwell to the Ipalook call; he wanted to wait for backup and called the house a party house.

Arc: No major arc.

• Officer Bob Tidwell — fellow officer

A social worker who breaks down in the courthouse bathroom and tells Rebecca her daughter was found buried alive in Anchorage; another social worker takes her to fly to Anchorage.

Arc: No major arc; her grief affects Rebecca's thoughts about daughters.

• Rebecca Wright — fellow professional and acquaintance

Rebecca's client in a custody hearing; she behaves with tearful dignity and thanks the judge after he orders her children moved back to Utqiagvik so she can visit them.

Arc: Shows the judge she has learned responsibility and gains access to her children.

• Rebecca Wright — attorney
• Judge Jeffery — presiding judge

A young woman in Anaktuvuk Pass who shot herself and left a note mentioning Randy; her funeral is the emotional center of Rebecca's visit. Pastor Willa Roghair remembers her from Sunday school.

Arc: No arc; her death highlights the weight on young people and prompts Rebecca's effort to help Randy.

• Randy Ahtanguarak — mentioned in her suicide note
• Pastor Willa Roghair — Sunday school teacher
• Rebecca Wright — attended her funeral

Pastor who presides over Ayla Eqalin's funeral and delivers an angry sermon about evil and everyone's responsibility to each other. She later tells Rebecca that people advised her to work with shamans when she came to Utqiagvik.

Arc: No major arc; her words about evil echo in Rebecca's memory.

• Ayla Eqalin — former Sunday school student
• Rebecca Wright — knows her from Bible classes

Randy's friend in Anaktuvuk Pass who tells Rebecca that Ayla Eqalin shot herself and left a note mentioning Randy. He later reveals that some kids thought Randy was a shaman who could foresee things.

Arc: No major arc; delivers key information about Randy.

• Randy Ahtanguarak — friend
• Rebecca Wright — gives her information

Randy's mother, dying of pancreatic cancer; her care is part of the burden on Randy. Her death triggers Randy's murder-suicide.

Arc: No arc; her death is a turning point.

• Randy Ahtanguarak — son
• Marvin Ahtanguarak — husband

Elizabeth Kanayurak's husband, who bought her the lipstick-red Chevrolet Tracker and worked as director of computer services for the school district. He dies of cancer in late 1999.

Arc: No major arc; his death precedes Liz's.

• Elizabeth Kanayurak — wife

Elizabeth Kanayurak's sister, who messages Rebecca to tell her Liz is gone and creates a memorial service for Liz.

Arc: No major arc.

• Elizabeth Kanayurak — sister
• Rebecca Wright — contact

Elizabeth Kanayurak's daughter, who appears at her mother's service slender and elegant in a black dress.

Arc: No major arc.

• Elizabeth Kanayurak — mother
• Orin — brother

Elizabeth Kanayurak's son, who tries to support and take care of his sister at their mother's service.

Arc: No major arc.

• Elizabeth Kanayurak — mother
• Jaeleen — sister

Amos Lane's sister, who appears with him in the Save Our Sisters Alaska series.

Arc: No major arc.

• Amos Lane — brother

The mother of Amos Lane's child; Liz's family said she was in the car with Amos and was not a kidnap victim.

Arc: No major arc.

• Amos Lane — father of her child

Amos Lane's father, who took his own life three years after Harriet's death, blaming himself.

Arc: No major arc; his suicide is part of Amos's family tragedy.

• Amos Lane — son
• Harriet Lane — wife

Deputy supervisor in the Anchorage Records Division who finds mislabeled Nashookpuk records and sends them to Rebecca.

Arc: No major arc.

• Rebecca Wright — records recipient

Anchorage police officer who was punched by Amos Lane and hospitalized for a blowout orbital fracture.

Arc: No major arc.

• Amos Lane — assailant

Former officer who filed a lawsuit against the City of Fairbanks and FPD claiming a stray bullet from the 2022 shootout injured him.

Arc: No major arc.

• Amos Lane — incident involved

Secretary at the Madisonville public defender's office who teases Rebecca about whale blubber and says she is a coal miner's daughter.

Arc: No major arc.

• Rebecca Wright — coworker

Makes a citizen's arrest of Amos Lane and files a complaint accusing him of assault. Rebecca wonders whether his prior DUI case was opportunely dismissed.

Arc: No major arc; his complaint is one of the misdemeanor charges against Amos.

• Amos Lane — accuser

A carver who files a complaint accusing Amos Lane of stealing ivory; Rebecca thinks he might call the ivory a gift for old times' sake. He previously sold carved ivory to Rebecca.

Arc: No major arc.

• Amos Lane — accuser
• Rebecca Wright — customer

Told Officer Marten that he thought he heard women screaming while walking home from an after-bingo party, but he was not sure it was screaming or what time it happened.

Arc: No major arc; an unreliable witness.

• Officer Marten — reported to

Told Officer Larry Hinken that the Ipalook sisters' house was known as a party house, called the 'crack house,' where people bought and sold drugs and bootlegged alcohol.

Arc: No major arc.

• Bernice Ipalook — neighbor
• Wanda Ipalook — neighbor

Told Officer Ted Barnett that she slept Friday night and cooked all day Saturday, heard nothing, and thought Bernice and John got along well and took care of their little girl Eqalin.

Arc: No major arc.

• Bernice Ipalook — neighbor she observed
• John Adams — neighbor she observed
• Eqalin — their daughter

A couple who lived beside the Ipalooks, tried to stay out of the sisters' way, and did not notice anything special about the weekend.

Arc: No major arc.

• Bernice Ipalook — neighbor
• Wanda Ipalook — neighbor

Told Officer Dolph Olson that he never saw or heard anything and that the sisters were nice.

Arc: No major arc.

• Bernice Ipalook — neighbor
• Wanda Ipalook — neighbor

Went to school with the Ipalook sisters; she says Wanda was a great basketball player who dropped out after drinking, and she saw the sisters drunk and hollering outside a store that weekend.

Arc: No major arc.

• Wanda Ipalook — schoolmate
• Bernice Ipalook — schoolmate

John Adams's second cousin, who told Ed Ellingsworth that Adams boarded his bus around eleven o'clock Saturday night and stared at a fancy diamond-like engagement ring on his little finger.

Arc: No major arc.

• John Adams — second cousin

The little daughter of John Adams and Bernice Ipalook; neighbors say her parents took care of her. After John's acquittal, he raises her with the Ipalook family.

Arc: No arc; her future depends on the trial outcome.

• John Adams — father
• Bernice Ipalook — mother

A young person whom Ellingsworth persecuted after the kid defended himself from a SWAT team; Rebecca brings up his case in arguments about due process.

Arc: No major arc; referenced in discussions of persecution and justice.

• Ed Ellingsworth — persecutor
• Rebecca Wright — argued on his behalf

An expert whose deposition on false confessions is read during the trial; he is scheduled to testify out of order because he has a plane to catch.

Arc: No major arc.

• John Adams — confession subject

The state's expert witness who arrives at the office and waits alone when Carol abandons him; Carolyn later retrieves him.

Arc: No major arc.

• Carolyn — handles his schedule
• Carol — should have watched him

Asks Rebecca to look after Dr. Sanderson while she retrieves medical records; returns to take him away.

Arc: No major arc.

• Dr. Sanderson — brings him
• Rebecca Wright — asks for favor

Prosecutor at the Adams trial who keeps Amos shackled, calls Amos to the stand, and presents the rubber grommet and SATS appointment card as exhibits.

Arc: No major arc; leads the state's case.

• Amos Lane — witness he examines
• John Adams — prosecutes
• Judge Jeffery — presides

Trooper who escorts Amos to the courtroom, brings folding chairs and a table, and later hovers near Amos during testimony.

Arc: No major arc.

• Amos Lane — escort

Jail sergeant who lets Rebecca see Amos, jokes with her about her famous client, and later reports that John Adams was found not guilty and that Amos is charged with perjury.

Arc: No major arc.

• Rebecca Wright — jail contact
• Amos Lane — prisoner

Prison guard who escorts Rebecca through the Fairbanks prison and checks on Bobby Nashookpuk during the interview, telling him he does not have to talk if he does not want to.

Arc: No major arc.

• Bobby Nashookpuk — guard
• Rebecca Wright — escort

Neighbor who sometimes shares a duck or hare with Rebecca from his hunting; Rebecca gives the game to Liz because she does not know how to fix it.

Arc: No major arc.

• Rebecca Wright — neighbor
• Elizabeth Kanayurak — receives game

In a past incident, told his pregnant girlfriend to go home and faced a bear with a pocketknife; he was later found in pieces.

Arc: No major arc; his story is told as a bear-attack warning.

Joshua Ahvakana's grandson, convicted of a murder in another village.

Arc: No major arc.

• Joshua Ahvakana — grandfather

Plays first base for the BP softball team and makes a leaping catch and a double play; she calls Rebecca 'my lawyer.' She is disappointed the team finished 3-3.

Arc: No major arc.

• Rebecca Wright — lawyer and teammate