The penalty for horse theft in the US can vary from county to county, but in most places it carries the same sentencing as Grand Theft. In some places it is still legal for a horse thief to be tried by a court and hanged for the crime.
Joseph Smith was in Carthage awaiting a legal trial. As mayor of Nauvoo, he had ordered the destruction of a printing press that was printing anti-Mormon materials. He determined that this was causing civil unrest and ordered that the press be destroyed. He was being tried to see if it was legal for him to do so.
The thief was captured as he left the bank with the stolen money. The sheriff tried to portray Robin Hood as a common thief, not a hero.
Joseph Smith attempted to employ the same solution to religious persecution as the Puritans of England, that is, he tried to move away. He moved from New York to Ohio to Missouri to Illinois, but it didn't work. He was murdered. His successor moved to Utah. That was much farther. That worked.
Joseph Smith was raw, uneducated material, and he tried lots of things during his life in his effort to understand the nature of the world and his particular gifts. If and when he tried divination (as in a divining rod or objects like a seer stone), one can be fairly certain it was out of curiosity and that he grew out of that curiosity as he gained maturity and insight. (A seer stone appears to have been used in connection with the Urim and Thummim for translation of ancient texts and is understood to be a tool for that purpose.)
Horse stomp there feet when they get tried. This does not mean that your horse is mad at you.
Reuben
John Smith
Yes and No because he tried to help out the unfortunate while he did steal it from the rich.
potiphar's wife tried too
John smith
They tried to celebrate it in Germany but that day a thief get in their house.