Man handed 8 years for attempted murder in Amman

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a June 2022 Criminal Court ruling, sentencing a man to eight years in prison after convicting him of attempted murder in September 2020.

The Criminal Court declared the defendant guilty of attempted murder on September 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.

According to court documents, the defendant, in Amman at the time of the incident, sent a threatening message to the victim, telling him “today you will see something that you have never seen before”.

While driving in his vehicle soon after the message was sent, the defendant spotted the victim in his car, the court maintained.

“The defendant intercepted the victim’s vehicle and jumped out of his vehicle holding a pump-action rifle,” according to the court papers.

The defendant pointed his weapon at the victim and fired one round, striking him in the thigh, the court documents said.

“The victim responded by waving a gun in the air, firing several rounds in the air to scare the defendant and deter him from shooting again,” the court papers said.

The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was treated for non-life threatening injuries, the court maintained.

The defendant contested his ruling via his lawyer, who argued that there were “legal errors in the investigation process”.

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 were accurate and that the defendant was given the appropriate punishment.

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