Cassation Court upholds 10-year sentence in attempted murder case

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a December 2022 Criminal Court ruling, sentencing a man to 10 years in prison after convicting him of attempting to murder three men during a brawl in November 2019.

The Criminal Court declared the defendant guilty of attempting to murder more than one person on November 9 in Zarqa and handed him a 15-year prison term.

However, the court decided to reduce the sentence to 10 years because the victims dropped charges against the defendant.

Court papers said the victims and the defendant met in the street to discuss an old feud.

Several people who were friends and relatives of both the victims and the defendant were also present, the court maintained.

"The group engaged in a heated argument that turned into a brawl whereby weapons such as sharp objects, a meat cleaver and a pistol were used," court documents said.

The defendant was holding a pistol which he used to shoot at three people, striking one of them in the leg,” the court added.

The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital and survived the shooting incident, court papers said.

 The defendant 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 10-year sentence.

The higher court ruled that the Criminal Court proceedings were accurate and that the defendant was given the appropriate punishment.

The Cassation Court bench comprised judges Mahamoud Ebtoush, Hammad Ghzawi, Nayef Samarat, Qassem Dughmi, and Mohammad Khashashneh.