Man handed 20-year jail term for shooting death

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a February Criminal Court ruling sentencing a man to 20 years in prison after convicting him of shooting and killing a man in Amman in December 2014.

The Criminal Court declared the defendant guilty of shooting the victim with a shotgun on December 24, in Jabal Nuzha and handed him the maximum punishment.

Court papers said that on the day of the incident, the victim was riding in a mini-bus with a friend, who had a heated argument with the defendant.

"The defendant and a group of friends attacked a shop belonging to the victim’s relatives because of the heated argument," court documents said.

As a result, court papers maintained, the victim asked a group of his friends to head to the defendant’s home to retaliate against the attack on the shop.

“The defendant saw the group approaching his house so he fired a bullet in the air then fired again, targetting the victim,” according to court papers.

The bullet struck the victim in the chest and he fell to the ground, court papers added.

The young man was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he died shortly after being admitted as a result of the wounds he sustained to his chest, according to court transcripts.

The defendant contested the verdict through his lawyer, arguing that he “was not the person responsible for the death of the victim”.

“The Criminal Court relied on weak evidence and failed to examine the evidence that we presented to the tribunal during court proceedings,” the defence argued.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Court’s attorney general asked the higher court to uphold the 20-year sentence.

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

The Cassation Court bench comprised judges Mohammad Ibrahim, Nayef Samarat, Majid Azab, Yassin Abdullat and Naji Zu’bi.