Man handed eight-year prison term for attempted murder

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a May Criminal Court ruling, sentencing a man to eight years in prison after convicting him of attempting to murder a man in February 2022.

The Criminal Court declared the defendant guilty of attempted murder on Feb 16 and handed him a 12-year prison term.

However, the court decided to reduce the sentence to eight years because the victim dropped charges against the defendant.

Court papers said the victim was driving his vehicle when he was approached by a hooded man (the defendant).

"The defendant pulled a gun and fired several rounds at the victim striking him in the leg," court documents said.

The defendant fled on foot and was later arrested by the police, the court added.

When questioned by investigators, the court maintained, the defendant confessed to shooting the victim over old feuds, court papers said.

However, in court, the defendant retracted his confessions and claimed he was innocent, the court transcripts stated.

The defendant also contested his ruling via his lawyer arguing that there were “legal errors in the investigation procedures”.

The prosecution, the lawyer argued, “failed to prove that my client was the one who fired the shots”, the court documents stated.

The Criminal Court’s attorney general asked the higher court to uphold the eight-year sentence.

The higher court ruled that the Criminal Court’s prosecution investigations were in accordance with the law and that the defendant was given the appropriate punishment.

The Cassation Court bench comprised judges Mohammad Ibrahim, Majid Azab, Hayel Amr, Fawzi Nahar and Mohammad Shreiri.