Man handed 8-year jail term for attempted murder

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a December Criminal Court ruling, sentencing a man to eight years in prison after convicting him of attempting to murder a man over a traffic dispute in Karak in May 2019. 

The court declared the defendant guilty of stabbing a man following a bout of road rage, with the intent of killing him in Mazar area on May 17, 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 defendant and the victim engaged in an altercation related to road rage almost 30 minutes before the stabbing incident.

“The defendant and a second man, who was tried on the same charges but did not appeal his verdict, followed the victim for a short distance then got out of the vehicle when the latter parked his vehicle,” court documents stated.

The defendant pinned the victim to the vehicle and the second man drew a knife and stabbed him once in the back, according to court papers.

The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital and survived the stabbing incident after undergoing surgery operation on his back, the court papers added. 

However, attending physicians at the hospital determined that the injuries were life-threatening and he survived due to medical interference.

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, meanwhile, asked the higher court to uphold the ruling.  

The higher court ruled that the Criminal Court followed the proper procedures and the defendant deserved the verdict he received. 

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