The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 21, July 1917 - April, 1918 Page: 255
434 p. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Residencia in the Spanish C'olonies
or other evidence of the criminal proceedings of an official, a pes-
quisidor would be dispatched by the Council of the Indies or by
the local audiencia, according to the rank and position of the
offender. Obviously the arrival of a magistrate in a colonial or
provincial capital could not be kept a secret, and frequently ad-
vance information of his, coming was sent ahead. After a pre-
liminary investigation by the visiting magistrate, the offending
official might be suspended from office, preparatory to his formal
trial, or, if sufficient evidence were not forthcoming, the investi-
gator would return whence he came to make a report, favorable
or unfavorable, as the case might be. Usually, if nothing more
than this were done, the matter was dropped, and the official un-
der investigation was allowed to continue in office. If he were
suspended from office, he would remain under arrest, or, as Helps
suggests (III, 146), practically under impeachment. Regular
residencia, proceedings would then be instituted, and as a result
the defendant might be cleared, or he might be fined only, or, if
criminal offenses were proved, he might be removed from office
and penalties imposed in accordance with the criminal code.
Appeals might be made from the judge of residencia (either the
pesquisidor or another judge not connected with the preliminary
investigation, but usually the former) to, the audiencia of the dis-
trict or to the Council of the Indies. In fact, original judgment
was always reviewed in the audiencia, unless the investigating
judge were especially commissioned by a higher authority,-for
instance, the Council of the Indies.
The faculty of determining whether or not cases merited in-
vestigation belonged to the acuerdo. of the audiencia, and governor
(or viceroy in Mexico or Peru), while the designation of the judge
was the function of the executive.' The judges sent on these
missions of residencia were not at first authorized to, render defini-
tive sentences, but that power was conferred upon them by the
8Recopilaci6n de Leyes de Indias, 5-5-21 (Book 5, Title 5, Law 21).
The acuerdo was & meeting or conference between the governor, viceroy,
or captain-general and the audiencia. The determination or decision of
this meeting was also termed an acuerdo. It transpired that the acuerdo
came to be of great importance and frequently the audiencia went so far
as actually to legislate in these meetings, sometimes with the consent of
the executive, sometimes without it and against his judgment.255
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 21, July 1917 - April, 1918, periodical, 1918; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101073/m1/261/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.