Man handed 15-year jail term for murder

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a December Criminal Court ruling which sentenced a man to 15 years in prison for the murder of a man in Tafileh in September 2015.

The Criminal Court declared the defendant guilty of complicity in murder and attempted murder on September 8. The defendant was given the maximum sentence.

The court also ordered the defendant to pay JD35,650 in compensation to the victim’s family.

Court papers said the defendant’s friend, who was also sentenced in the same case but did not appeal his verdict, had a heated argument with the victim and took revenge. 

"The defendant’s friend asked him and another man to help him shoot and kill the victim and they agreed," court documents said.

Court documents show that on the day of the incident, the three men “armed themselves with handguns and headed to the victim’s house, where they shot the victim with dozens of bullets before fleeing. They hid in a nearby farm before being arrested by police". 

The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital and died two days later as a result of the bullet wounds he sustained to his lungs, the court papers added.

The defendant contested the verdict, through his lawyer, arguing that he “was not the person responsible for the death of the victim”.

“My client and the two other defendants all fired at the victim but the fatal bullet was not fired from his weapon,” the defence argued.

The Criminal Court’s attorney general asked the higher court to uphold the 15-year sentence.

The higher court ruled that the Criminal Court proceedings were accurate and that the defendant was given the appropriate punishment.

“The evidence against the defendant is very strong and he failed to provide any evidence that proves his innocence,” the Court of Cassation ruled.

The Cassation Court bench comprised judges Mohammad Ibrahim, Bassim Mubeidin, Majid Azab, Yassin Abdullat and Naji Zu’bi.