Flint
Man blamed for serial stabbings loses appeal
FLINT, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan appeals court has affirmed the conviction of a man accused in a series of fatal stabbings in Flint in 2010.
The court on Wednesday found no grounds to overturn the results in the first-degree murder trial of Elias Abuelazam. He was convicted of killing Arnold Minor.
Abuelazam was charged with three murders and six attempted murders. But Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton has said there will be no additional trials because Abuelazam already is locked up with a no-parole sentence.
The Israel native was living with an uncle in Flint in 2010 when he was linked to the stabbing of 14 people; five died.
The victims were attacked by a man who asked for directions. Abuelazam told experts that he was under the spell of demons.
Flint
Officers opt to be zapped during stun gun training
FLINT, Mich. (AP) — Members of the Flint Police Department including the chief got a big shock during stun gun training.
The Flint Journal reports laughter filled the department’s roll call room Tuesday as officers took turns getting jolted.
Officers begin carrying the weapons starting this week.
Chief James Tolbert says the move will help protect officers and anyone resisting an officer because it will cut down on physical contact. He was first in line Tuesday during the training to get a shock.
Tolbert described the electric pulsing as being like a pounding, making it almost impossible to move. He says once the 5-second shock was over he could move. Tolbert says the department has policy set for stun gun use — and now he knows what it feels like to get zapped.
Flint
Woman awarded $183,000 after hospital firing
FLINT, Mich. (AP) — A jury has awarded a woman $183,000 after she said she was unfairly fired from Hurley Medical Center after accessing a family member’s medial files.
The Flint Journal reports the decision Monday in Genesee County came in the case of Yolanda Larry, who said the Flint hospital should have used discipline procedure outlined in the hospital’s employee handbook. Jurors denied an allegation of racial discrimination.
Larry’s attorney, Glen Lenhoff, says the case shows that privacy rules “while laudable in principle, can sometimes be used by hospitals to unfairly fire employees.”
The hospital argued that Larry violated federal privacy rules when she accessed the medical files of a family member receiving treatment at the hospital. Hurley spokeswoman Ilene Cantor says the hospital takes matters of patient privacy very seriously.
