State Roundup

 Saginaw

Police to get ne­w stun guns after court agreement 
SAGINAW, Mich. (AP) — Police in Saginaw are getting new stun guns after they were told not to use them because of a patent infringement case involving their manufacturer.
The Saginaw News and WSGW-AM report the police department’s Karbon Arms devices are being replaced by Taser-brand devices.
Saginaw police were equipped with 70 Karbon Arms devices about a year ago at a cost of about $74,000. Saginaw City Manager Tim Morales says the city plans to spend about $16,000 at first to buy 12 new stun guns. That’s enough to equip one shift of officers.
Morales says the department was notified that it must stop using the Karbon Arms devices following a settlement in a lawsuit filed by stun gun maker Taser International. Morales says other law enforcement departments are getting similar notifications.
 
Lansing
Governor: Action will be taken to prevent escapes 
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder says action will be taken to prevent future prison escapes after a convicted killer fled to Indiana before being captured.
Snyder says in a statement that officials plan to thoroughly review the situation that led to Michael David Elliot’s escape Sunday from Ionia Correctional Facility.
Snyder says: “We will demand an exhaustive assessment of the incident and take whatever appropriate action is needed to prevent future incidents.”
The governor says “teamwork at its finest” involving officials in Michigan and Indiana along with the U.S. Marshals Service led to Elliot’s capture Monday in Indiana. Snyder says it was “a job well done.”
Elliot was serving life in prison without parole for fatally shooting four people and burning down their Michigan house in 1993.
 
Mount Clemens
Man on trial in dea­ths of women 
MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. (AP) — Jury selection started in the trial of a Detroit-area man charged with killing four women after meeting them through online escort ads.
James Brown is charged with killing the women in pairs on two occasions at his Sterling Heights home in 2011. The bodies were found in cars in Detroit. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday in Macomb County Circuit Court.
Brown told police that he met the women on Backpage.com, which carries personal ads. He also told police that he fell asleep and simply found them lifeless when he woke up.
Two doctors who performed autopsies believe the women probably died of asphyxiation, a lack of oxygen to the brain. Two victims were found in a burning car.