Criminal charges against Joseph Smith

Common card · No. 416034

Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, was the subject of approximately twenty-one documented criminal cases between 1826 and 1844 across New York, Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. In New York, Smith was repeatedly charged with being a "disorderly person", a misdemeanor related to his activities as "seer". These cases resulted in one disputed outcome followed by two acquittals. Charges in Ohio included assault, battery, and conspiracy to murder. Smith was acquitted of the assault charge, while the conspiracy charge was dismissed in a preliminary hearing. Following the 1838 Mormon War in Missouri, Smith was indicted for treason, a capital offense. He was incarcerated in Liberty Jail for several months before escaping custody during a transfer to a different county. Smith successfully used the writ of habeas corpus to quash multiple extradition attempts to Missouri from Illinois. In 1844, he was charged with adultery for his practice of polygamy. After Smith ordered the...

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