"Next came Mrs Harris’s affidavit in which she stated that she believed that Joseph Smith had but one principle object in view and that was to defraud her husband in such a way as to induce him to give up all his property into his (said Smiths) hands that she did not believe that Joseph Smith had ever been in possession of the Gold plates which he talked so much about and that his prete[n]sions were altogather unreal." — Lucy Mack Smith¹

In 1829, Lucy Harris accused Joseph Smith of fraud, alleging the gold plates were a scam to defraud her husband out of his property. She entered the complaint before a magistrate in Lyons, New York, and gathered witnesses against Joseph.²

During the proceedings, three of Lucy's witnesses testified that Joseph had admitted to placing sand or lead in the box where he kept the plates or that he's confessed everything was to get Martin Harris's money. Lucy then got up and testified that she believed Joseph's main intent was to defraud her husband and that Joseph never possessed the gold plates.¹ When his turn came to speak before the judge, Martin Harris defended Joseph Smith and gave testimony of the gold plates. He stated that the $50 gift to Joseph had been freely given.³ Due to the lack of evidence, the court ultimately dismissed the case.³

It wasn't much longer after this that (in 1830) Lucy and Martin Harris separated.⁴

1. Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844-1845, Page [7], bk. 8, josephsmithpapers.org

2. Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1845, Chapter 29, 145, josephsmithpapers.org

3. Saints, Volume 1, Chapter 6, 58

4. "Harris, Lucy Harris," josephsmith.org