At trial, a strong case was made against the pirates. But when it came time for the Spaniards to testify, they swore “backward and forward” that they had sold their boat and cargo to Bannister, and that he had paid them to serve as crew aboard the Golden Fleece. If that testimony shocked the prosecution, at least the governor could still rely on the jury, who were certain to see through the ruse. But this was Port Royal, where ordinary folk, remembering who’d made their town rich and had infused it with spirit, still counted pirates as neighbors and friends. They returned with a verdict: not
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