Man gets 8-year jail term for attempted murder

AMMAN — The Cassation Court has upheld a July Criminal Court ruling sentencing a man to eight years in prison after convicting him of attempting to murder a man in Madaba in August 2019.

The Criminal Court declared the defendant guilty of attempting to murder the victim by stabbing him several times following a “heated argument” on August 8, and handed him a 12-year prison term.

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

Court papers said that on the day of the incident, the victim met with the defendant in the street and they started arguing over old feuds.

The verdict made no mention of the reasons behind the argument.

“The defendant engaged in a physical fight with the victim then he drew a switchblade and stabbed him in the waist and shoulder,” court documents said.

The victim fell down and lost consciousness, and was rushed to a nearby hospital. The victim survived the stabbing after undergoing several surgeries, court papers added.

The defendant, through his lawyer, contested the court verdict, arguing that the prosecution depended on “weak and contradictory evidence to implicate his client”.

 “My client never confessed to the attempted murder charges. He was defending himself during the brawl and, therefore, his punishment should not be high,” the lawyer argued.

Meanwhile, 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 had been accurate and that the defendant was given the appropriate punishment.

The higher court also ruled that the defendant had confessed willingly to the incident in front of the police and the Criminal Court prosecutor.

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