If its not worth your time to tell me enough about the story so I can decide for myself if I want to click on the link and read the story, there is zero chance I am going to click on the link.
Not complaining, just explaining why I never ever click on bare links.
The convicted man wanted bishops to testify on his behalf and the church told those bishops not to testify lest the church be embarrassed. It's a solid example of the church preventing important evidence from seeing the light of day.
I've personally witnessed this. I have a friend who was falsely accused of some things in a divorce. The local bishop took the wife's side and his views were discovered in due process. My friend then appealed to SLC (connections) and the envoys decided my friend was correct. The bishop was instructed to lift the ecclesiastical penalties he had imposed but also not to correct the court record. My friend lost his kids and his faith.
"In a motion filed in June by attorneys representing the church, they claimed that the church has a 'long-standing' policy for church leaders to avoid getting involved with the legal or civil matters of their members. The purpose for that policy is to 'prevent misunderstandings about whether the Church leader is testifying on behalf of the Church or in the Church leader’s personal capacity,' the motion says."
I'm not challenging the claims that the church doesn't interfere in legal matters because I know that they do.
Here's a story where the church intervened on behalf of the accused.
The newly called bishop was dealt a very difficult situation involving a "good LDS" family. Two sons and their father were charged with conspiring to blow up a bridge. Yes, it was that serious and yes the father was complicit in helping his sons steal bomb making explosives from different construction companies. They actually planted the bomb on a major interstate overpass and were threatening to set it off during a several hour SWAT stand-off. Thankfully, they surrendered without the exchanging gunfire. Unfortunately, the interstate was shut-down and traffic was diverted onto winding backroads that avoided the area. It was the only time that I was late to work at a big retail store.
Since I was meeting with the bishopric as ward clerk, I learned that the bishop felt devastated over the entire ordeal. I also learned that he had set-up a committee that was going to coerce (persuade) members to help this family by writing a ton of "good character" letters. I felt uneasy about it on many levels. First, I really didn't know them very well. I was several years older and I barely knew the deacon when I was a priest handing trays of water. Moreover, I certainly didn't know them while they were in HS because I was away serving a mission. The only thing that I would be comfortable stating was that they both skipped church meetings and created a lot of noise in the parking lot playing loud music. Naturally, the bishop didn't want that.
So I refused and that created additional tension. Even my TBM Mom wrote one because the kids meant well. Whatever!!! My Mom would have had good reason not to because this accused Brother (whose charges were later dismissed) failed to do a proper car repair. She later had a professional mechanic at a reputable shop re-do his work, yet she felt too embarrassed to confront him over his shoddy work.
So both brothers were charged and tried as adults. Thank God that the juries found both of them guilty of being domestic terrorists. The bishop (until he was released) continued to visit them. Only one of them showed any signs of remorse. The other one was becoming a hardened criminal. I hope that he continues to serve his sentence because he stupidly stated over recorded prison conversations with family members that he hoped to get out and blow up the prosecutors and law enforcement that arrested him. He truly is a sick and evil person. He had another LDS lawyer representing both brothers (tried separately). The bonehead tried to argue that they were not mentally ill, but the entire event was a misunderstood prank and not a serious crime.