Cassation Court upholds 8-year sentence for man convicted of attempted murder

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a February Criminal Court ruling, sentencing a man to eight years in prison after convicting him of attempting to murder a man during a brawl in August 2023.

The Criminal Court declared the defendant guilty of attempting to murder the 35-year-old victim who attempted to stop a brawl on August 25 and handed him a 12-year prison term.

However, the court decided to reduce the sentence to 1eight years because the victim dropped charges against the defendant.

Court papers said the victim was walking in the street when he saw a group of men engaged in a brawl.

"The victim rushed to stop the fight but was attacked by the defendant with an iron bar," court documents said.

The victim fell to the ground and the “defendant pulled a switchblade and stabbed him once in the chest,” the court added.

 The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital and survived the assault due to medical intervention, the court added.

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

The prosecution, the lawyer argued, “provided contradictory evidence when implicating my client,” 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 proceedings were accurate and that the defendant was given the appropriate punishment.

The Cassation Court bench comprised judges Naji Zu’bi, Nayef Samarat, Hammad Ghzawi, Qassem Dughmi, and Mohammad Khashashneh.