On the day of the shooting, Ruby had opened a bill addressed to her husband, Sam. The amount of the bill is unknown; to this day, the actual bill has never been produced as evidence. Ruby testified that she owed Dr. Adams $6. The Ellises found a number of $116 from some source (also guessing at the procedure in the bill: an abortion for Sam’s girlfriend, something that Dr. Adams, they guessed, refused to perform on Ruby). She confronted the doctor about the bill and he was shot. Thelma Curry, secretary to Dr. Adams, testified that it wasn’t the first argument she’d heard between Adams and frequent visitor Ruby, although the prosecution objected to that line of questioning on the basis that Curry was only there to testify on billing matters. The prosecution also objected to pretty much anything Ruby said when she herself was on the stand, especially if it was about her relationship with Dr. Adams, which they claimed was immaterial and inadmissible. Reading through the court transcript, this objection is repeated over and over: The question is too broad, vague and indefinite, and it is irrelevant and immaterial; it only tends to confuse the issue that is being tried, and it is inadmissible as to the period of time which is uncertain and too remote and vague. #florida #thetrailofrubymccollum #sammccollum #sablesouls #blackhistory #dradams #thelmacurry #florida #abortion
