The Court of Appeal has rejected the death penalty issued by the Jeddah General Court for a young man who, in a state of inebriation, ran a red light and caused an accident that killed Muhammad Al-Haddad, a student of King Abdulaziz University. Ruling on an appeal filed by the culprit, the Court of Appeal held that the sentence was too harsh. It requested the General Court to reduce the sentence to be compatible with the crime committed. Khaid Al-Haddad, the father of the slain boy, said Tuesday the Court of Appeal has asked the General Court to prepare the required legal documents pertaining to the hearing of the witnesses and the police officials who were present at the time of the accident. A hearing on the case will take place after Eid Al-Fitr to review these documents, judicial sources said. Meanwhile, the father of the slain boy has decided to wave the execution request on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan. He would instead call for a legislative settlement between the parties that would exclude the death punishment. The accident happened two years ago when the culprit was driving his car at high speed on Palestine Street while under the influence of alcohol. The driver ran through several traffic signals before ramming his car into the parked car of the victim, killing the young man on the spot. The original court verdict asked the culprit to pay compensation to the family of the deceased. He was also sentenced to receive 80 lashes as punishment for drinking alcohol. But, the High Court rejected this ruling and returned the case to a legislative committee to be reviewed again following a request from the victim's father to apply the death penalty. The culprit's lawyer had presented an appeal to the court objecting to capital punishment and insisting that the accident was an act of fate, and that his client did not intend to kill the young man, holding on to the previous verdict that his client should only pay money to the victim's family.
