Man handed 8-year jail term for attempted murder in road rage incident

AMMAN — The Cassation Court has upheld a November Criminal Court ruling, sentencing a man to eight years in prison after convicting him of attempting to murder a man in a road rage incident in Maan in May 2021. 

The Criminal Court declared the defendant guilty of shooting several rounds at the 36-year-old victim following the road rage incident.

The defendant was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

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 returning home in his pickup truck in the Jafer area when he decided to overtake the defendant’s vehicle from the right side.

“The overtaking caused dust and sand to fly into the defendant’s vehicle, which angered him,” the court papers said.

The defendant chased the victim’s vehicle and crashed into the back bumper but “the victim did not stop fearing that he might get hurt”, the court papers added.

The defendant then drew an “unlicensed 9 millimere handgun and fired several rounds at the victim’s vehicle”, the court added.

The victim ducked under the steering wheel, avoiding a bullet that struck the back window of the truck and flew over his head, the court transcripts said.

The defendant contested the Criminal Court’s ruling arguing that the “prosecution failed to provide solid evidence to convict him with the charges”.

The Criminal Court’s attorney general asked the higher court to uphold the ruling. 

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

“The court relied in its ruling on crime lab ballistic match results of the bullets that were extracted from the victim’s vehicle that matched the defendant’s gun,” the court stated.

The Cassation Court bench comprised judges Mohammad Ibrahim, Yassin Abdullat, Nayef Samarat, Hammad Ghzawi and Mohammad Khashashneh.