A Wisconsin appeals court on Thursday denied the request for a new trial made by a man convicted in the grisly 1992 killing of a Green Bay paper mill worker.

Rey Moore, 65, was one of six men convicted of killing their co-worker Tom Monfils. His body was found in a pulp vat at the then-James River Corp. plant in Green Bay with a weight tied around his neck.

Moore's attorney, Byron Lichstein, of the Wisconsin Innocence Project, argued that the conviction should be overturned because of questionable testimony by prison inmate James Gilliam.

He had testified in 1995 that Moore told him he participated in a group beating of Monfils at the mill. But Gilliam later recanted and said Moore told him he actually tried to prevent the beating.

That change in Gilliam's testimony was not allowed at the trial. Lichstein argued that Moore deserved a new trial because that testimony would exonerate him.

A Utah mayor who wrote news stories under a false identify is being sued for defamation.

In court papers, Chris Hogan alleges an article by West Valley City Mayor Mike Winder falsely claimed he was accused of extortion and fired from UTOPIA, a fiber-optic network formed by 16 Utah cities.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City seeks a trial, compensation for lost wages and punitive damages.

Among the lawsuit's 14 defendants is Deseret Digital Media, which published Winder's stories under the alias Richard Burwash.

The company's CEO Clark Gilbert has said company officials "deeply regret" the mayor misrepresented himself.

Winder promoted his city and even quoted himself in stories he wrote.

Winder said on Thursday he disputes Hogan's claims and will defend the lawsuit.

A unique small claims court case brought by a Honda hybrid car owner against the auto giant is rolling back into court Wednesday with a judge seeking more information about the claim of Heather Peters, who says her car failed to deliver promised mileage.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Commissioner Douglas Carnahan is not asking questions about the substance of the unusual lawsuit by Peters, the owner of a 2006 hybrid Honda Civic. But he wants more information on technicalities of its filing, such as the possibility of a statute-of-limitations problem.

He asked for additional legal arguments and scheduled another session of the trial in Torrance, the U.S. headquarters for Honda.

After testimony and arguments Jan. 3, he took the matter under submission and said he would have a ruling soon. But he removed it from submission in order to get clarification.

Peters, a former lawyer, has been using the Internet to try to rally other Honda hybrid owners to follow her example and go to small claims court rather than accepting a proposed class-action settlement by Honda.