SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah judge has ruled that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints did not interfere in a death row inmate’s 2015 trial when it laid out ground rules for what local church leaders could say before they testified as character witnesses for the man. The Salt Lake Tribune reported that 62-year-old Doug Lovell claimed the witnesses were silenced, or never contacted at all by his court-appointed attorney. Lovell was sentenced to death for killing Joyce Yost three decades ago to silence her after she reported a rape. Judge Michael DiReda denied Lovell’s verdict appeal. The Utah Supreme Court will next hear the case.