Rafael Nieto Abeillé, born in Cuba and educated in Spain, while serving as a prosecutor in Matanzas, Cuba, was appointed in 1896 as a trial judge in San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...

. Months later, he was appointed as a prosecutor before Puerto Rico's highest appellate court before being appointed as a magistrate on the court in 1898.

In July 1899, under United States rule, military governor Davis appointed him as Puerto Rico's Attorney General, a post that he held until April 1900. A speaker of the English language, he helped improve communications between Davis and the legal profession. After the 1900 Foraker Act

Foraker Act

The Foraker Act,officially the Organic Act of 1900, is a United States federal law that established civilian government on the island of Puerto Rico, which had been newly acquired by the United States as a result of the Spanish–American War. Section VII of the Foraker Act also established Puerto...

 went into effect, President William McKinley

William McKinley

William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...

 on June 5 appointed him as Associate Justice of the new Supreme Court of Puerto Rico

Supreme Court of Puerto Rico

The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico is the highest court of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, having judicial authority within Puerto Rico to interpret and decide questions of Commonwealth law. As the highest body of the judicial branch of the Puerto Rican government, it is analogous to one of the...

. However, he resigned nine months later, on February 26, 1901, to return to his native Cuba to serve in that country's court system until his death on January 10, 1916.

Sources

• Rivera, Luis Rafael Rivera (2007) La Justicia en sus Manos: historia del Tribunal Supremo de Puerto Rico Fundación Histórica del Tribunal Supremo de Puerto Rico (Historical Foundation for the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico), San Juan, Puerto Rico, ISBN 1-57581-884-1, in Spanish