Latest news with #Pasha
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
A Major Search and Seizure Case Is Coming to the Supreme Court
When can the police enter a person's home without a warrant? The Fourth Amendment and the various judicial exceptions to it don't provide a clear answer. But the Supreme Court may provide some clarity next term after it agreed on Monday to hear a Fourth Amendment case next term involving wellness checks, suicide-by-cop threats, and warrantless intrusions into the home. Case v. Montana began as many Fourth Amendment cases do: with a man, a gun, and a romantic partner. William Case allegedly told an ex-girlfriend during a phone call in the fall of 2021 that he was considering suicide, 'threatened to harm any officers that came to his home if she called the police,' and then went silent without hanging up. The ex-girlfriend called 911 and told the dispatcher she also heard a 'pop' sound on the other end of the line. According to court filings, the officers who arrived at Case's house said that they did not believe they needed a warrant because 'it wasn't a criminal thing' and that they were there to render emergency aid. They could not see Case through the windows, and nobody responded when they knocked on the door. Based on a previous incident with Case, his petition claimed, the cops believed that he might be attempting suicide by cop. After obtaining more equipment and shields, the officers entered the home and searched for Case. 'As [Officer Richard Pasha] searched an upstairs room, Case 'jerked open' a closet curtain, and Pasha saw a 'dark object' near his waist,' the state of Montana told the court in its reply brief, quoting from depositions. 'Pasha immediately shot Case, hitting him in the abdomen.' Case survived the wound and was later convicted of felony assault on a peace officer for the encounter. Pasha was unharmed. Case appealed his conviction by arguing that the officers' entry of his home was unlawful. The Fourth Amendment forbids 'unreasonable searches and seizures' by law enforcement. That protection is strongest in a person's home. Accordingly, cops generally can't enter or search a home without either the owner's permission or a judicial warrant. Case sought to exclude any evidence obtained during the unlawful search—in effect, the entire incident—from trial. Over the years, courts have put forward numerous exceptions to the Fourth Amendment's requirements. The state of Montana in this instance countered that the officers' actions were reasonable and justified based on the 'community caretaker' doctrine, an exception first articulated by the Supreme Court in the 1973 case Cady v. Dombrowski. In Cady, the court sided with a Wisconsin police officer who had conducted a warrantless search of a driver's impounded vehicle after arresting him for drunk driving to search for a potential handgun. (The driver had identified himself as a Chicago cop.) During the search, the officer found bloodstained clothes and items that eventually led to the driver's prosecution of and conviction for first-degree murder. The driver appealed his conviction by arguing in part that the evidence obtained from the warrantless search had to be thrown out. The Supreme Court disagreed, concluding that the search was not an 'unreasonable' search or seizure because it was done for legitimate noncriminal reasons. The justices noted that local police officers frequently interact with drivers without criminal suspicion because states closely regulate cars and driving in general. For example, the court observed, officers will 'frequently investigate vehicle accidents in which there is no claim of criminal liability and engage in what, for want of a better term, may be described as community caretaking functions.' Expanding the community-caretaking doctrine beyond Cady's bounds, however, is more controversial. Cars and other motor vehicles, which did not exist when the Fourth Amendment was drafted in 1791, generally receive less protection from warrantless searches under the court's precedents than, say, a residence. For that exact reason, the court recently declined to extend the doctrine to a person's home. In the 2021 case Caniglia v. Strom, a man sued police officers who had entered his home as part of a wellness check after he allegedly placed a handgun on a table and told his wife to 'shoot [him] now and get it over with' during an argument. The officers invoked the community-caretaker doctrine, and the First Circuit Court of Appeals agreed. Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for a unanimous court, held that the appeals court's decision went too far. 'Neither the holding nor logic of Cady justified that approach,' he wrote. 'True, Cady also involved a warrantless search for a firearm. But the location of that search was an impounded vehicle—not a home—'a constitutional difference' that the opinion repeatedly stressed. In fact, Cady expressly contrasted its treatment of a vehicle already under police control with a search of a car 'parked adjacent to the dwelling place of the owner.'' If the court already ruled in Caniglia that the doctrine did not apply to a person's home, you might ask, why is the court hearing this case at all? For one thing, the Montana Supreme Court sided with the state by adopting an unusual reading of the court's 2021 ruling. Thomas's four-page majority opinion was fairly straightforward: 'What is reasonable for vehicles is different from what is reasonable for homes,' he concluded, and he appeared to foreclose the community-caretaking doctrine for the latter altogether. While the court's decision in Caniglia was unanimous, however, there appeared to be significant differences lurking beneath the surface. Three of the justices wrote concurring opinions that appeared designed to narrow Thomas's conclusion. 'A warrant to enter a home is not required, we explained, when there is a 'need to assist persons who are seriously injured or threatened with such injury,'' Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, quoting from precedent, and said that he joined Thomas's opinion insofar as it did not say otherwise. Justice Samuel Alito wrote that he joined Thomas's opinion because it 'properly rejects the broad 'community caretaking' theory' adopted by the First Circuit. At the same time, he wrote in favor of an expansive form of the doctrine in other circumstances, pointing to the possibility of elderly Americans whose relatives could not contact them and other hypotheticals not covered by the court's precedents. Finally, Justice Brett Kavanaugh went further than his colleagues to explicitly conclude that the Fourth Amendment did not prevent a wide range of warrantless entrances into a person's home, such as an imminent death by suicide, welfare checks on the elderly, or 'unattended young children' alone inside a home. 'To be sure, courts, police departments, and police officers alike must take care that officers' actions in those kinds of cases are reasonable under the circumstances,' he helpfully added. Concurring opinions carry no actual legal weight; Thomas's opinion is the one that actually represents the decision of the high court. Nonetheless, the Montana Supreme Court quoted extensively from the concurring opinions to describe Caniglia as a case where the high court 'articulated its concern that permitting warrantless entries broadly under the community caretaker doctrine risks encompassing actions that violate citizens' Fourth Amendment rights.' Three justices on Montana's Supreme Court dissented from the ruling, writing that Caniglia had actually held that the doctrine was 'not a standalone exception to the warrant requirement and did not permit warrantless entries into personal residences.' In his request for the Supreme Court to take up the case, Case urged the justices to decide whether officers must have probable cause before entering a home in an emergency-aid situation, as multiple lower courts have held, or whether some lower standard applied. 'By applying a relaxed standard, the [Montana Supreme Court] majority here upheld a warrantless entry even though the officers only had reasonable grounds to believe—and only purported to believe—that Case wanted to engage them in gunplay so they would kill him,' Case's lawyers told the court. That would not amount to probable cause, they argued, because the only threat to Case's life would be if the officers entered the house in the first place. It is unsurprising that the justices took up that question since courts across the country have reached different conclusions on it. While the state of Montana disagreed that the circuit split was as deep as Case claimed, it acknowledged that the justices could still provide some helpful clarity if they so desired. 'No doubt the use of different formulations—probable cause, objectively reasonable basis, reasonable suspicion—to analyze warrantless entries for Fourth Amendment 'reasonableness' runs the risk of sowing deeper confusion among federal and state courts on an issue of vital importance to citizens and law enforcement,' it told the justices in its reply brief. There are few spheres of life where the Fourth Amendment's protections are as high as a person's home. There are also situations where Americans may want emergency responders to enter a home as quickly as possible to preserve life and limb. If the diverging opinions in Caniglia are any indication, the justices will face a formidable task in laying out a comprehensive rule on the matter next term.
Time of India
23-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
COVID-19 resurgence in India: Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh ramp up surveillance; experts discuss if waning immunity is a concern
Amid the sudden resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, and even China, fresh cases are being reported in India too. Currently, India is witnessing a mild but growing resurgence in COVID-19 infections in states like Maharashtra, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, and more. The recent rise in infections is being linked to the emergence of two new subvariants, namely, OF.7 and NB.1.8, which are the descendants of the JN.1 lineage, itself a subvariant of the Omicron strain. On the other hand, the Singapore health authorities have stated that the reason behind the sudden spike is the waning immunity among the population. Is waning vaccine immunity a concern? It is alarming to observe the increasing cases of COVID-19 in India, and waning vaccine immunity is a prime reason for this upsurge. 'Declining vaccine immunity is an issue in the background of increasing COVID-19 infections in India. Vaccine immunity wanes over time, and hence booster doses are essential,' says Dr. Majeed Pasha, Consultant, Pulmonology, Chest & Sleep Medicine, Fortis Hospital, Nagarbhavi. In view of the ongoing surge, it is important to look at providing booster doses, particularly for high-risk groups such as the elderly and comorbid patients. 'Booster doses will ensure sufficient levels of immunity and avoid critical disease. I advise that booster shots should be given priority to the vulnerable populations and encourage sustained adherence to public health practices such as masking and social distancing to reduce transmission of COVID-19,' advises Dr. Pasha. Will a booster dose help prevent the rise in new cases? With COVID-19 cases on the rise again in India, many are questioning whether a booster dose could help curb the surge and offer renewed protection against evolving variants. According to Dr. Anantha Padmanabha, Senior Consultant, Internal Medicine, Fortis Hospital, Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru, 'The recommendation by the World Health Organization (WHO) to provide booster doses to vulnerable groups, like the elderly and immunocompromised groups, is a prudent measure.' 'The Indian experts' idea of examining the possibility of providing booster doses to individuals who have taken their primary doses six months or more ago is also a rational approach,' he adds. Cases rise in Mumbai, Gurugram, Andhra Pradesh, and more Amid India reporting fresh new cases, Mumbai has reported 95 cases so far in the month of May. With this, the share of Maharashtra's total of 106 cases recorded since January, according to data released by the state health department. As a precaution, the Pune Municipal Corporation has set aside 50 beds at Naidu Hospital. VIDEO | Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav (@satyakumar_y) reacts to reports of single Covid-19 case detected in state. He said, 'All over India 257 cases (Covid-19) have been recorded. There is no need to panic as the state is fully prepared. Testing… While two Telugu states are also on high alert after a woman tested positive for COVID-19, the state government has issued a general advisory urging people to take precautions to tackle any possible spike in COVID-19 cases, reported the Hindu Businessline. In Haryana, three new cases of COVID-19 infections have been confirmed, including two in Gurugram and one in Faridabad. To stay updated on the stories that are going viral follow Indiatimes Trending.
New Straits Times
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New Straits Times
#SHOWBIZ: Indonesia's Ungu feels at home in Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR: Indonesian rock band Ungu describes Malaysia as their second home, citing the consistently positive experiences they have had performing here. Vocalist Sigit Purnomo Syamsuddin Said a.k.a. Pasha, 45, said in a recent video conference that the enthusiastic response from fans and the smooth organisation of their Malaysian concerts always make them feel like they are performing "at home." "Frankly, we consider Malaysia our second home. Almost every concert we've had here has left a lasting positive impression. "The audience's reaction has always been incredibly encouraging, which is very satisfying for us as performers," Pasha said. The Ungu frontman added that their visits to Malaysia are not just about performing; they also cherish connecting with their Malaysian fan base. "Each of our past performances holds its own unique story and memories. But this time, we promise something entirely new, something that will be a milestone in our history. "We're presenting something we've never done before since forming the band in 1996," he said. The five-member band is scheduled to perform at the '29th Anniversary, Symphony of Ungu Live in Kuala Lumpur' concert on July 12, at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre's Plenary Hall. The concert, organised by Apex Venture Global, will feature Ungu performing with a full orchestra, led by JP Denny.
New Indian Express
03-05-2025
- New Indian Express
Delhi Police bust international vehicle theft syndicate, arrest 8; 15 cars recovered, kingpin on the run
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police Crime Branch has busted an international vehicle theft syndicate involved in smuggling of stolen high-end luxury cars and arrested eight individuals associated with the racket, officials said on Friday, adding that 15 stolen vehicles were recovered during the investigation. The accused have been identified as Taj Mohammad (40), Mateen Khan (24), Nagender Singh (46), Nadeem (38), residents of Uttar Pradesh, Imran Khan (25), Akbar (20), Manish Arya (48), residents of Delhi, and Kunal Subhash Jaiswal (24), resident of Mumbai, officials added. According to cops, a probe was initiated after the arrest of Taj, a key player in the syndicate, last year revealing significant details about the gang's structure and operations. The investigations led to the arrest of several associates and recovery of stolen vehicles from various locations in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. Amir Pasha, the alleged mastermind behind this international vehicle theft racket, operates remotely from Dubai, orchestrating the entire network, a senior police officer said. Pasha ensures the seamless functioning of the syndicate by supplying advanced programming devices, blank keys, and other tools necessary for bypassing vehicle security systems, she added. Pasha manages the syndicate's finances from operatives across India while maintaining strict anonymity among members. His strategy involves compartmentalising the network so that no individual within the syndicate knows the identity or role of others, thereby minimising risks and ensuring the criminal activities remain undetected. This level of organisation and control has allowed Amir Pasha to sustain the syndicate's operations across multiple states for years. Taj was a core operative in the syndicate for over a decade. He was responsible for coordinating thefts and delivering stolen vehicles to various receivers across India. Taj maintained direct communication with syndicate leaders, including Pasha, to execute vehicle thefts across Delhi-NCR, DCP (Crime) Apoorva Gupta said. The gang identified high-end vehicles parked in low-surveillance areas or roadside locations, focusing on popular models for their high resale value. They used tools like advanced key programming device to hack ECM codes, disable security systems, and generate new keys for stolen vehicles and employed scanning devices to disable GPS trackers, rendering vehicles untraceable, the senior officer said.
Indian Express
02-05-2025
- Indian Express
International vehicle theft racket busted in Delhi, eight arrested
Last August, when Delhi Police personnel arrested 40-year-old Taj Mohammad, a man with over 70 cases against him, they expected to solve a chain of car thefts orchestrated by him in India. But what they learnt was that the brains behind the operation was not him, but a Dubai-based controller, Amit Pasha. On February 26, the Crime Branch arrested seven members of the Pasha's car theft gang, including car sellers and technicians. A Look-Out Circular has been issued against Pasha, said police. Taj's interrogation led to the arrest of seven others, including Imran Khan alias Guddu (25), a technical expert skilled in bypassing ECM (engine control module) codes; Kunal Jaiswal (24) from Mumbai, a major receiver of stolen vehicles, and Akbar (40), a financier and distributor linked to buyers in northeast India. The other arrested persons are Mateen Khan (24), Nagender Singh (46), Manish Arya (48) and Nadeem (38). The first man to be arrested was Imran, a resident of Seelampur, who used to 'decode' high-end vehicles for the gang. 'Imran played a critical role in enabling the syndicate's seamless theft operations,' DCP (Crime) Apoorva Gupta said on Friday. The stolen vehicles were then given to a middle man, UP resident Mateen Khan, who would supply the vehicles to 'sellers' in multiple cities across India. 'He supplied these cars to sellers such as Kunal Jaiswal and others in cities like Vadodara, Hyderabad, and Mumbai… Kunal facilitated the resale of stolen cars in major cities such as Mumbai, Pune, and Nasik. Kunal admitted to purchasing multiple stolen vehicles from Mateen,' said Gupta. In between came the transporters, supplying these vehicles from Mateen to various buyers. Nagender Manish, and Nadeem would transport these vehicles to multiple areas, said police. Pasha's main financier in India was Akbar, whom Pasha gave money to fund the operation, said police. 'He coordinated the delivery of stolen vehicles to buyers in Northeast India and West Bengal on instructions from Amir Pasha,' said Gupta.
