 Joseph Smith is the only president of the church to have been tried before the Common Council.The Common Council of the Church has only been formally convened once since Joseph Smith's trial.On September 8, 1844, Presiding Bishop Newel K. Whitney convened a public meeting of the council with Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, Orson Hyde, George A. Smith, John Taylor, Amasa M. Lyman, William W. Phelps, William Marks, Charles C. Rich, and Ezra T. Benson acting as the twelve counselors.