Causa criminal into a homicide by Mission San Francisco neophytes — Jacobo (principal author), Apolinario, and the blind Tenbis/Toribio (accomplices): Jacobo beat Ebacio[?] to death from jealousy over a woman he wished to marry. Estudillo's long *defensa*: the accused are 'recién convertidos,' rustic Indians; the missionary ministers themselves flog neophytes '12, 15 ó 25 azotes' for woman-theft/adultery/homicide; pleads not for acquittal but for exemplary *destierro de Provincias* instead of death. Outcome: convicted on confession; case routed Arrillaga→Viceroy→*auditor de guerra* twice (defect: no *curador* at the neophytes' ratification); Toribio died at Mission SF 28 Nov 1809, attended by Fray Ramón Abella; auditor (28 Sep 1810) praised Estudillo's defensa 'muy buena y útil'; sentence: 10 years' presidio at Monterey + afflictive lashes (Apolinario partly exempted); approved by Viceroy Venegas, 10 Oct 1810. Rich on mission discipline, neophyte legal status & indigenous custom.
| Date | 1809-04-15 → ruling 1810-10-10 (orig. pp.2–68) (exact) |
|---|---|
| From | Comte. Luis Argüello (juez fiscal; escribano artillero Matías Guerra) · Tte. José Mª Estudillo (*defensor*) |
| Place | San Francisco |
| Series | Provincial State Papers, Benicia (Military) |
| Tomo | XL–LII (volume range; this entry is not resolved to one tomo) |
| Original tomo page | pp.xl.2–68 |
| Savage copy page | 2–11 |
| Scan leaf | n1–n10 |
| Document type | verbatim transcription |
| Source | verbatim transcription |
Read this leaf on the Internet Archive ↗ · leaf n1–n10
Comte. Luis Argüello (juez fiscal; escribano artillero Matías Guerra) · Tte. José Mª Estudillo (*defensor*), San Francisco, 1809-04-15 → ruling 1810-10-10 (orig. pp.2–68), Provincial State Papers, Benicia (Military), pp.xl.2–68, Archives of California, C-A 17, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. [the tomo is given as the volume’s full range: this entry has not been resolved to a single tomo within XL–LII]Cite the document by series, tomo and original tomo page, as the literature does; the C-A number locates it in the repository. To cite this catalogue entry itself, use https://archivesofcalifornia.com/record/ca17/ca17-d1.html