The Sixth Circuit has denied a petition for review filed by a Brazilian man who shot and seriously injured his nephew during a car chase, holding as a matter of first impression that the statutory phrase "serious reasons for believing" a nonpolitical crime was committed requires no more than a finding of probable cause.
Joining the majority of circuits to address the question, the Court held that the government met its probable cause burden through the petitioner's outstanding attempted murder charge and his own admitted conduct, and that the petitioner failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he lacked the requisite intent or acted in justified self-defense. The Court separately upheld the denial of CAT protection, agreeing that the petitioner's connections to a criminal gang through his nephew were too limited and speculative to establish a likelihood of official acquiescence in torture.
The full text of Spindola v. Blanche can be found here: https://www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/26a0222p-06.pdf