In The Scarlet Letter, if Dimmesdale had confessed in the beginning, would he have been hanged?

If Dimmesdale had confessed himself as Hester's co-sinner, he would not have been hanged.  Although one character suggests that there is a law to hang Hester for the crime, this was not actually the case.  Adultery was treated as a severe criminal, not capital, offense.  Punishment usually consisted of some public humiliation, wearing the letter, and two severe whippings.  In any event, no one can prove that Hester is still married because her husband has been missing for two years and is presumed dead by some; on the other hand, because they don't know for sure that he is dead, she is still punished as an adulteress, though not, perhaps, to the extent that these Puritan women would like.  Dimmesdale would not be hanged either because, again, adultery is not a capital crime.  Further, he didn't actually commit adultery because he is unmarried.  He committed fornication, a lesser crime, because he is breaking no vow.  He would not have been hanged for this either.