Cassation Court upholds 12-year sentence for attempted murder

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a January Criminal Court ruling, sentencing a man to 12 years in prison after convicting him of attempting to murder a man in Amman in October 2021.

The Criminal Court declared the defendant guilty of attempted murder on October 7 and handed him a 20-year prison term.

However, the court decided to reduce the sentence to 12 years because the victim dropped charges against the defendant.

Court papers said the victim and the defendant had old feuds.

One day before the incident, the court said, that the victim was riding in his vehicle when the defendant, who was standing in the street, asked him to pull over, according to court papers.

"The defendant ordered the defendant not to pass through the street where his house was," court documents said

The following day, the court maintained, “The victim drove through the street that he was warned not to enter”.

The defendant, who was armed, spotted the victim’s vehicle and “opened fire striking him in the chest,” court papers said.

The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital where he underwent several surgeries to halt the internal bleeding, the 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, “the court relied on contradictory statements by the witnesses,” the court documents stated.

The Criminal Court’s attorney general asked the higher court to uphold the 12-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 Mahmoud Ebtoush, Nayef Samarat, Hammad Ghzawi, Mohammad Shreiri and Mohammad Khashashneh.