JENNINGS HOTEL
ROUND CORNER

forgave, if not required, males to assassinate anyone who would question female virtue. This became known as the Code of Honor, although it really bordered on vigilantism. Both Capt. Nutt and Nicholas Dukes claimed to value the Code of Honor above the Code of Law. On Christmas Eve 1882, after arranging some funds for his wife, Capt. Nutt went with his nephew Clark Breckenridge, to Nicholas Dukes’ apartment in the Jennings House hotel on the corner of W. Main and Arch Streets to confront him about the charges Dukes had made in his letters. Capt. Nutt carried a walking stick and a .38 caliber loaded Colt pistol. After an argument and physical altercation, Nicholas Dukes fired his own pistol, mortally wounding Captain Nutt. Mr. Dukes, then walked to the county jail and turned himself in to the sheriff.

The strategy of the defense was to show that it was right to protect oneself by any appropriate means. Nicholas Dukes was found not guilty, because he had fired his weapon in self-defense. The town exploded with indignation at the verdict. Newspapers, community leaders, preachers called for Dukes’ lynching. The jurors, all of whom were Democrats, were threatened and ostracized in their home communities. It was an emotionally charged time in which the proponents of the Rule of Law were vastly outnumbered by the supporters of Divine Retribution and honor killing.

By midday only one juror had been seated. Two more were selected before the jury pool was exhausted. James’ attorney requested a change of venue. Although there were four possible counties, Judge Wilson selected Allegheny over the objections of the prosecution.

The trial in Pittsburgh opened on January 14, 1884. At that time, the insanity defense had been used in honor-killing cases for about 25 years. This was the strategy that James’ defense team pursued. The defense wanted to prove James was insane at the time he shot Nicholas Dukes and that he was overcome by an “irresistible impulse” to shoot Mr. Dukes. They called ten physicians, eight of whom were general practitioners having no special training in mental health who testified to this. The defense also argued that James was subject to a “familial disposition toward mental illness and that he was slow intellectually and impulsive in nature.” The widow Mrs. Nutt stated that he had been consumed with receiving and reading reports on Mr. Dukes’ original trial.

The defense also sought to show that seeing Mr. Dukes drove James to this condition of experiencing an irresistible urge and that Divine Intervention caused him to shoot Mr. Dukes on the street in Uniontown. This was a killing done for honor and so was outside the rule of law. The strategy of the prosecution was to prove, that although perhaps intellectually slow, James was competent and that because he had seen Mr. Dukes many times since the death of his father, it was not that which motivated James to shoot.

A verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity was rendered. Because of the reason of insanity, James had to remain in custody. A hearing to determine his mental health was scheduled by Judge Stowe for the following day. Most of the doctors Judge Stowe appointed to the panel had been expert witnesses for James’ defense at his trial. That afternoon, Judge Stowe, who after the initial verdict expressed his strong support for and belief in honor killing, authorized James’ release. James returned to Uniontown a celebrated hero.

[In a footnote to Capt. Nutt’s reputation, it was found that he had in September 1882 embezzled $10,000 from the State Treasury to invest in oil, and later determined that he had also embezzled another $32,000. Neither of these failings had any apparent connection to the shootings or trials.]