Man sentenced to 20 years in prison for attempted murder

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a May 2022 Criminal Court ruling, sentencing a man to 20 years in prison after convicting him of attempting to murder a man in the Jordan Valley in June 2021.

The Criminal Court declared the defendant guilty of attempted murder, stemming from “an old feud” with the victim, on June 4. The defendant was given the maximum sentence.

Court papers said the defendant had an old feud with the victim’s family and headed to their house to “discuss the matter”.

"The defendant was armed with a handgun when he headed to the victim’s home," court documents said.

The minute he saw the victim, the court maintained, the defendant drew his gun and fired several rounds striking the victim in the leg.

“The victim ran towards a container and hid behind it,” according to court documents.

The defendant kept firing his gun until he ran out of bullets and then escaped from the area, the court maintained.

The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital and received the proper medical intervention, the court papers added.

The defendant contested his ruling via his lawyer arguing that his client’s charge should be changed to a misdemeanour since the injury was not fatal.

In addition, the lawyer argued that his client fired several rounds and “he could have murdered the victim if he wanted but instead fired at his leg”.

“Investigators found five spent shells at the shooting scene, which means that my client fired several rounds and could have shot the victim in the head or chest if he wanted to”.

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, Majid Azab, Hayel Amr, Mohammad Shreiri, and Ibrahim Abu Shamma.