“MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ...

Amaral directly challenged Teixeira’s personal reputation. The fact that Teixeira would
ignore allegations of sexual assault for strictly political ends called into question his status as
an “honorable vecino” in Alegrete. Once again, personal reputation emerged as a central
front in factional struggles over borderlands legalities.
Amaral juxtaposed Teixeira’s dishonor with another familiar theme: the image of the
neutral application of the law under assault for political ends and personal ambition.
Although this obviously was a convenient stance for Amaral to take, both his and Teixeira’s
repeated insistence on the “legality” of their actions reflected the rhetorical strategies
borderlands factions employed to win control of the courthouse. Because each side
ultimately hoped to gain power to secure the recognition of status and rights within the
system of borderlands legalities, both factional rivals necessarily framed their conflicts in
juridical terms. This in turn fed back into their own personal reputations, enhancing their
authority to provide justice for their allies.
With da Silva in place, the resolution of the proceeding was largely an afterthought.
Da Silva continued to take evidence in the matter. Each side called multiple witnesses
representing a cross-section of the town’s vizinhos. After numerous delays and jurisdictional
squabbles, da Silva exonerated Amaral. Yet, the acquittal was a Pyrrhic victory. Teixeira and
Ferreira had successfully driven the former judge from the town. They had also shown
Amaral’s political patron and father-in-law to be powerless to stop their assault on one his
faction’s principal judicial officials. At the same time, Teixeira had secured the appointment
of da Silva, his relative and ally, to the highest judicial post in Alegrete’s comarca. Viewed
from this perspective, Amaral’s ultimate exoneration only further fed into Teixeira’s
persistent narrative that his faction, and their judicial allies, administered justice in an
impartial manner. It bolstered their own personal reputations as both powerful, but also just
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