The Climax of a Court Case

Climax Jim took care of the evidence against him.

Rufus Nephew, better-known as Climax Jim, was well known in Arizona of the 1890s. He was arrested for altering a check and trying to cash it. During the trial, his lawyer got into a nose-to-nose argument with the prosecuting attorney and during the chaotic distraction, Climax Jim ambled over to the table and stuffed Exhibit A, the check, into his mouth. When order was restored, the judge directed the attorney to present Exhibit A. But it was nowhere to be found. The case was dismissed. As he was leaving, Climax spit Exhibit A into the judge’s personal spittoon.