LATTER DAY SAINTS
Cherise T. Ahay
Senior Legal Seminar – Professor Donsky
Famous Trials Assignment – Carthage Murders
May 7, 2012
LEGAL MEMORANDUM
To: Professor Donsky
From: Cherise T. Ahay
Date: May 7, 2012
Re: People v. Levi Williams (Hancock County, Illinois 1845) – Murder of Joseph and Hyrum Smith
Questions Presented:
Should those identifiable members of the mob be charged and convicted of the murders of Joseph and Hyrum Smith?
Brief Answer:
According to the jurors charged with deciding this case, no.
Facts of the Case:
The social instability in Hancock County was palpable during the time period Joseph Smith, Jr. arrived from Missouri. Citizens were complaining about Joseph and his increasing presence in Hancock County, more particularly in the city of Nauvoo, religion and politics. On June 27, 1844, Joseph and Hyrum Smith were murdered inside of Carthage Jail cell after surrendering in an effort to quell social unrest against the Mormon community he helped build up. A mob came upon the jail. Immediately, Joseph and another detainee began to block the door to prevent the entry of the mob. The mob then began firing shots through the door, some of which struck Hyrum. Shortly thereafter, Joseph grabbed a firearm, opened the door slightly and began shooting, striking at least two men, who later died. The mob proceeded to enter the cell. After much fighting, Joseph then cried and fled through the window, pursued by the mob. The events that ensued are unclear. However, the mob fled before law enforcement arrived. John Wills, Gallaher, William Voras, Thomas Sharp, Mark Aldrich, Jacob Davis, William Grover and Levi Williams were implicated but only Williams, Sharp, Aldrich, Davis and Grover were indicted for the attack on the Smith brothers.
Discussion:
Before Judge Richard Young argued prosecutor Josiah Lamborn and defense attorneys Orville Browning, William Richardson, Calvin Warren and Archibald Williams.
Defense requested a new, presumably less biased jury be selected in order to be more diverse in opinions and less “Mormon” before the trial began.
Prosecution presented a case which rested solely on eye witness accounts. Lamborn’s witnesses included: John Peyton (who testified that members of the militia were coerced into putting a stop to growing Mormon influence), Franklin Worell (who testified seeing men disguise themselves to carry out the murders), Carthage Grey guards (who placed some of the defendants at the scene of the crime), William Daniels (who recounted some of Joseph Smith’s last moments), Eliza Jane Graham (who testified to seeing some of the defendants brag about the murders), and Benjamin Brackenbury (who placed five of the defendants in Carthage the day of the crime).
Defense questioned and in most cases invalidated the testimony of most of the state’s witnesses, including proof that some of the witnesses were not credible due to drunken incapacitation, the unknowing or unintentional fabrication of facts of the witness from one testimony to the next, and perjury. Defense then offered it’s own witnesses to further contradict the testimony of the prosecution’s witnesses.
At closing, Lamborn dropped cases against all but three defendants: Sharp, Aldrich and Williams and held that there was evidence to prove that the remaining defendants were indeed guilty of murder. Defense countered by stating there was insufficient evidence to support charges against the defendants specifically and that acquittal would restore peace in Hancock County.
As a result of unreliable, circumstantial evidence, all those implicated were swiftly acquitted.
In my review of this case, it appears unfortunate that prosecution relied so heavily on witness testimony. However, given the time period and the circumstances, that was all that could be used. The defense was just in requesting a jury of peers. It is true that any number of men could be implicated in this horrific crime and the defendants could be used as scape goats. In procedure, it seems that the trial was fair (due to the lack of evidence) but it seems that the verdict was politically motivated as well, due to a swelling anti-Mormon sentiment. This anti-Mormon feeling caused Bingham Young, successor to Joseph Smith, to lead an exodus to Salt Lake City.
It is interesting to note that in a written account of William Daniels (or Lyman Omar Littlefield, per Daniels’ in court testimony), it was stated that “a light, so sudden and powerful, burst from the heavens upon the bloody scene, (passing its vivid chain between Joseph and his murderers)…” which, according to Joseph Smith happened to him in 1820 as well. Joseph describes, “a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun…” to which Smith then spent his life as a prophet of G–. One is forced to ask themselves whether or not someone really believes this occurred or was the author just placing events from Joseph’s prior testimony into the scene of his death in order to perpetuate the image of Joseph being a prophet and martyr for the Latter Day Saints.
Conclusion:
Overall, given the evidence, the verdict in this proceeding was just. There was not enough credible evidence to substantiate a conviction for those indicted. In today’s day and age, technology would have definitely changed the outcome of this case in many ways. The advances in architecture may have made it impossible to even get to Joseph and Hyrum thus they may still be here. There would have been cameras to catch the offenders and provide more supplemental evidence as to those who were involved. There may have still been attempts to cover up the involvement of law enforcement had an attack occurred. All in all, it is still tragic that Joseph and Hyrum Smith would have to die for their beliefs or the effects of such beliefs in a country that was founded with the principles of religious freedom.
Sources:
“Joseph Smith.” Mormon.org. Official Web site of The Church of Jesus Christ of, 2011. Web. 26 April 2012. <http://mormon.org/joseph-smith/>.
Linder, Douglas. The Carthage Conspiracy Trial: An Account. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 April 2012. <http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/carthage/carthageaccount.html>.
http://www.sidneyrigdon.com/dbroadhu/MO/Misr1845.htm May 27, 1845 Daily Missouri Republican
