on November 13 and continued for approximately two weeks. The defense attorneys consisted of Doniphan and David Rice Atchison. During the hearing, Smith and his companions were not permitted to call witnesses for their defense, as sometimes was allowed during such proceedings, and were abused in various ways. On or about November 30, 1838, the Richmond court committed Smith and his companions, Hyrum Smith, Lyman Wight, Alexander McRae, Caleb Baldwin, and Sidney Rigdon, to Liberty Jail to await trial. They were taken from Richmond to Liberty Jail in a large, heavy wagon. Many residents of Liberty and the surrounding area turned out to watch their arrival and some expressed their disappointment in their ordinary appearance. As the prisoners climbed the stairs and entered the jail, Smith paused on the platform at the top of the stairs, turned to face the crowd, raised his hat and said, "Good afternoon, gentlemen" before entering the jail. While Smith and his companions were incarcerated in the lower dungeon room, the upper room was used by their guards. Change of venue and escape On January 25, 1839, Sidney Rigdon was released from jail following an eloquent self-defence in the Clay County Courthouse. Because of threats, however, he stayed at the jail until February 5, 1839. On April 6, 1839, Smith and the prisoners were transferred to the Daviess County Jail in Gallatin where a grand jury was investigating. The grand jury was to indict them on murder, treason, burglary, arson, larceny, theft, and stealing. Smith and the followers were to appeal for a change of venue to Marion County, Missouri, in the northeast corner of the state near the village of Commerce, Illinois. However, the venue was changed to Boone County, Missouri. On April 15, 1839, en route to Boone County, Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, Lyman Wight, Alexander McRae, and Caleb Baldwin were allowed to escape after the sheriff and three of their guards drank whiskey while the fourth guard helped them saddle their horses for the escape. They arrived in Quincy, Illinois, on April 22 and from there were to regroup at Nauvoo. Smith's writings On March 20, 1839, while incarcerated in Liberty Jail, Joseph Smith dictated a letter to Edward Partridge which was recorded by Caleb Baldwin and Alexander McRae. Parts of the letter were canonized and are today known in the LDS canon as Sections 121, 122, and 123 of the Doctrine