Judge Hal W. Adams, eminent jurist, in whose courtroom the trial was to be held, revealed to a startled, jam-packed audience that Atty. Guy Crews, Mrs. McCollum’s lawyer, had been disqualified for working against the possibility of a fair trial for his client.

  * * *

  AS A stunned silence swept the room, Judge Adams said:

  “This case cannot proceed further at this time. There has been an unexpected happening.

  “Attorney for the defense is precluded from acting further for the defense. The court is astonished, in view of the wide-spread reports and publicity of this case, from Maine to California, and every part of the United States, that a plot such as I have every reason to believe exists, should have been attempted. The date for this plot is set at more than two weeks BEFORE Oct. 6.” (It was on this that the sanity hearing was fixed.)

  Judge Adams then proceeded to excoriate Attorney Crews for his bad faith . . . for his attempt to obstruct justice . . . and against a fair and impartial trial for Mrs. McCollum.

  The dramatic announcement, which was made late in the afternoon, came as a complete surprise to spectators and reporters.

  * * *

  ALL MORNING long, examination of the 112-man panel of prospective jurors had proceeded. From this list, forty-six had qualified. Then came the noon recess, with court scheduled to reconvene at 2 P. M.

  It was at 2 o’clock that the first break came . . . when Judge Adams announced a further recess because:

  “Information has reached me that there is a document in existence, which, if true . . . may bring about a new development in the case.”

  At 3 o’clock, Judge Adams announced that the document had been discovered in Tallahassee . . . that a state trooper had been dispatched for it!

  At 4:15 came the announcement, as Judge Adams once again entered the courtroom with a sheet of paper in his hands. The tightly packed courtroom fell into a tight silence. Tenseness fell like a shroud. Then, stern of mien, the white-haired jurist, standing in the lectern looked long and earnestly into the face of Mrs. McCollum before his gaze shifted to the face of Crews.

  * * *

  AFTER MAKING his dramatic announcement, Judge Adams praised two Associated Press reporters . . . Malcolm Johnson and Bernard Parker . . . “for their forethought and alertness in discovering the plot and promptly notifying the court of its existence.”1

  Continuing, apparently under great strain, the jurist said further:

  “I have further and other expressions that I would like to make, and I am gutting my teeth to keep from making them.”

  Then came the statement which revealed Crews’ disqualification:

  “Defense counsel is precluded from speaking to me as an attorney . . . but he can speak to me as a man.

  “Ruby McCollum must have a fair and impartial trial. She must have new counsel to represent her. I will see to it that she gets it. In justice to the defendant, it is not fair to attempt to proceed until she has sufficient time to be fairly represented. The state attorney concurs with me in this.”

  Judge Adams originally had planned to delay the trial for ten days, but when the state attorney objected, he set the new trial date for this Monday, Nov. 24.

  NOVEMBER 29, 1952

  Trial Highlights

  Court session was set for 10 o’clock. At 9, though, clusters of people were outside on sidewalk and on edge of lawn.

  * * *

  Inside . . . courtroom jammed with spectators and prospective jurors. Two-thirds of seats in galleries, reserved for Negroes, occupied. Below . . . where whites sat, eyes of morbidly curious glued to door through which Ruby must come.

  * * *

  DIXIE ODDITY!—White enameled bucket of ice water on corner of rail, with white dipper rimmed with black. It serves as drinking fountain, and ANY and ALL who get thirsty, drink from same dipper.

  * * *

  Nine: fifty-eight—Ruby led in by state trooper. She walks briskly to seat without looking to right or left . . . up or down. Hair unpressed, bunched under hair-net. Wears expensive blue wool dress . . . long bright green coat of camel’s hair . . . modish black suede low-heeled pumps on her small feet.

  * * *

  Only sign of Ruby’s nervousness . . . pre-occupation with hands and rhythmic swinging of feet. Noticeably thinner and paler than at sanity hearing.

  * * *

  TEN o’CLOCK—Judge Adams enters . . . room rises respectfully.

  “It has long been custom of this court to open a case of this kind with prayer,” he says. Small man in tan coat prayed briefly.

  NOVEMBER 29, 1952

  Justice and Fair Play Aim of Judge Adams as Ruby Goes on Trial

  LIVE OAK, Fla.—Ruby’s first trial day is ended . . . but a strange melody lingers on!

  And while Ruby is billed as the main actor in the drama being enacted here, it was this same Judge Adams who proved the principal actor, with a chorus of 112 prospective jurors.

  The thing I’ll always remember was Judge Adams’ approach to the case. Once the panel had been placed under oath, he lost no opportunity to stress the serious and conscientious business of serving as a juror. Time and time again, he reminded the men of the compelling necessity of justice and fair play. Time after time he called upon them to “examine their consciences” with deep care.

  “Remember that Dr. Adams was a white man,” he said. “He was a descendant of an old, highly respected family in this area. He was a wealthy, cultivated man . . . Ruby McCollum (Mrs. omitted) the one who allegedly killed him, is a Negro woman. Can you honestly put aside all emotions and feelings and confine your verdict to what you hear from the witness chair and my charge to the jury?”

  Twice, Judge Adams mentioned “reasonable doubt.” He said that Ruby McCollum was due the benefit of “reasonable doubt” . . . if any were to be found!

  Were the prospective jurors willing to give it to her? Justice, worked out and handed down by long tradition, must prevail! If any man there could not cleanse his mind of pre-conceived ideas and be guided by the evidence . . . it would be a civic duty and an evidence of good citizenship to excuse himself right away.

  Several excused themselves . . . and were complimented by the judge . . . as an evidence of honesty and good citizenship.

  But the forty-six men from which a jury was to have been picked were dismissed following the afternoon’s developments. Judge Adams will have to do it all over again!

  NOVEMBER 29, 1952

  McCollum-Adams Trial Highlights

  LIVE OAK, Fla.—Here are some McCollum-Adams trial highlights:

  Defense Attorney Frank Cannon, Duval County Solicitor for the Criminal Court of Records . . . hired the evening before the trial started.

  * * *

  Mrs. Thelma Curry, receptionist for Dr. Adams, was obviously nervous and spoke almost in a whisper. Judge Adams, with one of his colorful colloquialisms, admonished her:

  “Can’t you talk no louder than that? Outside of here, we could hear you for half a mile . . . against the wind.”

  * * *

  Vero Musgrave, used by the prosecution to place Ruby at the scene of the [crime], keeled over during vigorous cross-examination by Cannon . . . and was carried to the hospital on a stretcher. Musgrave is white.

  Perfect order prevailed at all times during the trial . . . in court and in the city!

  DECEMBER 27, 1952

  Ruby Bares Her Love Life

  LIVE OAK, Fla.—Before a courtroom packed with hushed spectators, Mrs. Ruby McCollum told of her love life with Dr. C. LeRoy Adams, white physician and politician . . . the man she killed “during a struggle over a pistol he had produced.”

  The jury heard her story and then found her guilty of first degree murder. The jurors refused to ask that she be shown any mercy.

  In a thin, low voice, she told her story with frequent interruptions of objections by the state. Several times she was admonished to speak louder by the court so that the jury might hear her distinctly. The story did not come out in narrative form as Defense Counsel Frank Cannon, solicitor of the Duval County (Jacksonville) Criminal Court of Record, had planned.

  The court sustained an objection by the prosecution that it would be too rambling, and confined it to interrogation by defense counsel and answers by Ruby McCollum.

  * * *

  RUBY STATED that she had known Dr. Adams for seven years. He had attended her at the birth of her third child, Sonya McCollum, but the alleged intimate relations between them did not begin until 1948 and continued until his death Aug. 3, 1952, she testified.

  CANNON: Beginning with the birth of Sonya, did you have sexual relations with Dr. C. LeRoy Adams?

  (State, through Assistant Prosecution Counsel Edwards declares the question is improper.)

  CANNON (Heatedly): Since the state objects to all testimony, I propose to show by this witness (Ruby McCollum) that Dr. C. LeRoy Adams did begin to have sexual relations with this woman at the time of the birth of Sonya and continued down to the time of his death, and nobody knows this any better than the State of Florida!

  (State objects, but is overruled by Judge Adams.)

  RUBY: No, not right then.

  CANNON: Later on, did you?

  RUBY: Yes, I did.

  (State objects through Attorney Edwards on the ground that such testimony would tend to confuse the jury and prejudice the jury; further, that it was no defense to the charges.)

  CANNON: The defense contends that it is a mitigation and most material.

  (Objection overruled.)

  CANNON: Now tell the jury when and where.

  RUBY: About three months after Sonya was born I continued sick. Dr. Adams was waiting on me. I asked if something could be done for me to get me well. Dr. Adams told me, “I can do something for you if you will do something for yourself. I will get you well provided you do as I say.” I pretended not to understand and he told me, “You are not green. You understand what I mean.” No, I’m not green and I guess I do understand, but I can’t hardly believe my ears.

  CANNON: Tell us if you ever had intercourse with Dr. Adams, and when and where?

  RUBY: At my home in 1948 for the first time.

  CANNON: Use the exact words that the Doctor said. Did he solicit you? You solicit him? Or did he take it away from you? I’ll put it all three ways.

  (State objects that testimony of witness does not bear on case.)

  CANNON: You have to have something to make a case for the jury. It is silly to just say she shot him.

  (Objections overruled. Ruby can answer.)

  RUBY: Dr. Adams came to my house that afternoon on a professional call. He told me, “I’ll be back in the morning after I finish my work and show you what I mean.” He came the next morning and took me upstairs and laid me across the bed. Afterwards he told me, “I’ll be back. You must call me sometimes.” The second time he came I was not at home, but saw him later. After that intercourse he told me, (implication that he was annoyed by her absence and thought she was avoiding him), “I want you to understand right now that I don’t want no foolishness. And further, rest assured that nobody is going to bother you, and nobody is going to bother me. Nobody is going to be any trouble to neither one of us.” I couldn’t tell him no. He came to my house in 1950 one day and I told him “I am almost afraid.” “Afraid of what?” he asked.

  RUBY: You know. We haven’t been using a diaphragm.

  DR. ADAMS: To hell with that. I don’t bother with things like that. In October I told him that I was pregnant. “I know it,” Dr. Adams said.

  In reply to a question by Attorney Cannon, Ruby stated that she had intercourse with Dr. Adams very frequently. Sometimes at her home and sometimes at his office. They had a scheme worked out to hide their relationship from others.

  RUBY: Dr. Adams told me, “When I call you, you say, ‘yes, I need you. Somebody is sick.’ If there is somebody around to hinder what we want to do, say it has been a mistake” (wrong number). If my husband picked up the phone, Dr. Adams would hang up.

  CANNON: Did you become pregnant after beginning relations with Dr. Adams?

  RUBY: Yes, I became pregnant in October, 1950.

  CANNON: Did Dr. Adams make any provisions for you in your condition?

  RUBY: Yes, Dr. Adams told me to go to Dr. Saunders at Valdosta, Ga., at the Griffin Hospital. I stayed there three days then returned home. Dr. Adams came out next morning and continued to treat me and the baby for twelve days, till we were all right.

  CANNON: Was this Dr. Saunders a friend of his?

  RUBY: He told me that Dr. Saunders was his first cousin.

  CANNON: Did you ask Dr. Adams for a birth certificate for the child?

  RUBY: Yes.

  (Strenuous objection by state sustained.)

  CANNON (to Court): On what ground is objection sustained so that counsel may be guided? Then let the jury retire so that I can say what I want to. Judge Adams ordered the jury to retire and Ruby was then allowed to answer.

  RUBY: One month after the birth of my last child I told him (Dr. Adams) that I had not received the birth certificate. Had he had it made out? He said yes, that he had. It was made out in his name (as the father) and the child’s name was made out as Loretta Adams, but he was not going to give it to me unless I did as he said.

  (State objects, no defense, immaterial.)

  CANNON: Testimony of this nature would weigh heavily with me if I was on the jury. It is testimony of the highest authority, and impossible to be manufactured. The state’s attempt to bar all testimony by this witness is unreasonable, and unfair. The attempt on the part of the state to bar all testimony from the ears of the jury is unpardonable. The accused should be protected by law.

  (State objects and is sustained.)

  CANNON: Is all testimony by Ruby McCollum concerning the birth certificate going to be barred by the court?

  JUDGE ADAMS: It is.

  CANNON: No disrespect intended to the court, but I am going to ask it all over again to protect the rights of the defendant.

  (Jury recalled to the courtroom.)

  CANNON: The baby, this youngest child of Ruby McCollum’s, is here in court at this moment. It is in the balcony, and I desire to present it to its mother for identification and as evidence.

  (Assistant State’s Attorney Edwards is on his feet immediately and objecting strenuously. The objection is sustained angrily and Ruby is warned about answering before counsel has time to object.)

  CANNON: Were you pregnant on Aug. 3, 1952, and by whom?

  RUBY: By Dr. Adams.

  CANNON: Did you have any conversation with Dr. Adams concerning this second pregnancy?

  (Objection sustained.)

  CANNON: How far had your pregnancy developed on Aug. 3, 1952?

  RUBY: Two months.

  CANNON: Had you been going to see him (professionally) a long time before?

  RUBY: No, but he treated members of my family.

  CANNON: During the month of May, 1952, did Dr. Adams strike you?

  (Objection. Ruby not permitted to answer.)

  CANNON: He struck you in March? May? July? February, January of 1952?

  (Objections. Ruby not permitted to answer.)

  CANNON: Did you have intercourse with Dr. Adams in his office in 1952?

  RUBY: Yes sir, I did.

  CANNON: Tell the jury the circumstances.

  (Objection sustained.)

  CANNON: Remember what day Aug. 3, 1952 was?

  There came a long and tense silence. It smothered the room like a London fog. Ruby dwindled visibly in her seat. Her small hands trembled, her features assembled a piteous look. Finally she managed to speak.

  RUBY: Yes, I remember that day. It was a Sunday.

  CANNON: Did you go to Dr. Adams’ office?

  RUBY: Yes.

  CANNON: What time?

  RUBY: I, I don’t know the exact time. I believe it was around 10 o’clock. I had Sonya and Loretta, my two youngest children with me. I had to take them with me because there was no one at the house to look after them.

  CANNON: Had you continued sexual intercourse with Dr. Adams until Aug. 3 of this year?

  RUBY: Yes.

  CANNON: About how often?

  RUBY: Many times. I don’t know how many times at home and at the office.

  (Continued Next Week)

  JANUARY 3, 1953

  Ruby’s Story: Doctor’s Threats, Tussle over Gun Led to Slaying!

  LIVE OAK, Fla.—The courtroom remained hushed and tense as Mrs. Ruby McCollum told the jury why she killed Dr. C. LeRoy Adams, wealthy physician and politician.

  She was constantly cross-examined by her attorney, Frank Cannon, solicitor of Duval County (Jacksonville).

  ATTY. CANNON: Prior to Aug. 3 did Dr. Adams try to induce you to leave your husband and move out on his farm?

  (Objection sustained.)

  CANNON: Did Dr. Adams ever ask you to leave your husband?

  (Objection sustained.)

  CANNON: On Aug. 3 were you indebted to Dr. Adams?

  RUBY: Yes, for $6. I know about that . . .

  (Objection sustained.)

  CANNON: (With a look of pain and frustration on his face) Tell us what you did when you left home.

  RUBY: (After long pause) With my two youngest children, Sonya and Loretta, with me, I drove down to Dr. Adams’ office. I saw that the office was closed and some people waiting. I stayed in the car with the children for awhile. Then I went into the office and sat and talked awhile. There were some white patients ahead of me. I sat and talked until Dr. Adams came out (into colored waiting room). He told me to come on in. I turned to the people in the room and asked, “You people ahead of me?” but Doctor said it was all right for me to come on in. I had a pain in my right shoulder, and he gave me a shot of penicillin in my right arm. I owed him for three shots ($9) and started off. Then I thought about the bill. Then I said, “The bill came out to the house to Sam.”