The Court of Cassation has upheld a January Criminal Court ruling sentencing a 38-year-old man to 20 years in jail after convicting him of fatally shooting his older sibling over a financial dispute in Madaba in January 2017.
The court declared the defendant guilty of shooting his 51-year-old brother following a dispute related to money while at his house on January 19 and handed him the maximum punishment.
According to court documents, the defendant “was intoxicated and on drugs”on the day of the murder.
“He went to the victim’s house and asked him for JD20 but he refused to give him any money so he drew a gun and shot him twice,” the court stated.
The defendant fled the scene and was later arrested by the authorities.
The defendant contested his ruling arguing that “he should benefit from a reduction in penalty since his mother dropped the charges against him”.
However, the higher court ruled that some of the victim’s family members refused to drop charges against the defendant and “therefore he cannot benefit from a reduction in the penalty”.
“All immediate family members should drop charges against the defendant in order to reduce the punishment against him. Therefore, the Criminal Court followed the proper procedures when sentencing the defendant deserves the verdict he received,” according to the Court of Cassation verdict.
The Court of Cassation judges were Mohammad Ibrahim, Naji Zubi, Saeed Mugheis, Bassim Mubeidin and Majid Azab.
