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Primo was acquitted of Benavides' accusations
Source: The Governorship of Spanish Florida #122
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Early in the fall of 1723 hearings opened on Primo’s case. Initially the viceroy’s counsel confronted the cavalry captain with Benavides’ accusations, questioning him closely concerning the three charges. Primo, however, made a convincing defense. He claimed that Benavides had based his accusations on hearsay evidence. If his soldiers and forced laborers had deserted, sickness, lack of supplies, and lack of encouragement from Saint Augustine and Mexico City had led to their failure at Saint Joseph’s. The other charges, he stated, were not true. He had given long, faithful, and obedient service to both the king and the governor. The viceroy accepted this explanation and absolved Primo of the charges against him. The cavalry captain was then awarded back pay for the time he had spent in prison in New Spain and late in the fall of 1723 returned to Saint Augustine. [Note: Primo to king 10/16/1723] Evidently he worked his way back into the governor’s good graces, for in 1726-1727 he became Benavides’ choice to negotiate a boundary dispute with the English in Charleston, and he continued to be a key official in the Florida colony. Benavides thus made a shambles of the judicial process in Florida. When he abandoned the informal summary court in favor of more formal civilian-style justice, he proved inept. Review of his methods by his superiors revealed his glaring inadequacies as a judicial officer. Benavides had submitted false evidence, reduced testimony to mere summaries, failed to allow defense witnesses, and drawn up trial documents without proper certification and notarization. At times he seemed to act in good faith and to attempt, within the limits of his experience, to draw up his cases according to established procedures, but for the most part he knowingly and deliberately abused justice to eliminate his opponents from Florida. In the end the Council of the Indies censured the governor for his shoddy practices and reduced his judicial power, yet for him it was probably worth the Council’s reprimand to eliminate the possible troublemakers from his colony. (Tepaske GSF)
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