Starfleet officer. Finney was an instructor at Starfleet Academy when James Kirk was a midshipman. The two men were good friends, so much so that Ben Finney named his daughter Jamie after Kirk. Later, when both were assigned to the U.S.S. Republic, Ensign Kirk relieved Finney on watch and found a circuit open to the atomic matter piles that might have blown up the ship if it had not been closed. Kirk closed the switch and logged the incident, causing Finney to draw a reprimand and then be moved to the bottom of the promotion list. Finney was bitter about the incident for years, although he later accepted a position as records officer aboard the Enterprise under Kirk's command. In 2267, Finney staged his own death in an unsuccessful attempt to frame Kirk for murder.