IN BRIEF

DAUGHTER KILLED IN CALIFORNIA

Hearing set for man wanted in slaying

A court hearing is set Dec. 29 in Las Vegas for a man sought in California after the body of his daughter was found in his impounded motor home.

Clarence Eugene Butterfield made a brief appearance Tuesday before a Las Vegas justice of the peace who set a March 23 court date on unrelated felony check forgery charges that led to Butterfield's arrest Oct. 8 in Las Vegas.

Records show the 55-year-old Butterfield remains in custody at the Clark County jail pending the fugitive hearing later this month.

He's sought in Orange County, Calif., on a murder charge stemming from the discovery of 22-year-old Rebekah Butterfield's decomposed body in the freezer of the motor home.

Authorities said the woman went missing about two years ago from her home in Temecula, Calif.

RECALL PETITION CASE

Court rules woman's rights were violated

A federal appeals court in Reno has overturned a lower court ruling against a woman who claimed her rights were violated when she was prevented from collecting signatures for a recall petition against several Reno City Council members at a special event in 2002.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a ruling issued Monday, said Janelle Dietrich had the right to collect names on the sidewalk during the Best of the West Rib Cook-off in Sparks six years ago.

The court ruled her removal was unconstitutional, and reversed a 2006 ruling by U.S. District Judge Brian Sandoval, who determined Dietrich's rights were not violated because she was allowed to move to another site down the street.

The appeals panel, however, affirmed Sandoval's finding that police didn't retaliate against Dietrich for a story in a local newspaper by giving her a ticket for driving past a police barricade to drop off chairs and tables.