A judicial committee of three judges in Jeddah General Court sentenced to death a young man who caused the fatality of a university student in a traffic accident while he was intoxicated. The court's verdict came after a year of failed deliberations to conciliate between the victim's family and the offender. This comes after the Supreme Court overturned Jeddah Court's verdict of dropping the death penalty as reported in Okaz Tuesday. The incident took place two years ago, when the accused crossed a red traffic signal on Palestine Street whilst driving under the influence of alcohol. The resulting collision with the victim's parked car resulted in the latter's untimely death. The offender was initially sentenced to pay blood money and 80 lashes for drinking alcohol according to the public right. However, the Supreme Court overturned the verdict following the request of the prosecutor demanding the death penalty. Khalid Bahaddad, the father of the victim, said that he has confidence in the judiciary committee. He is adamant that the offender should learn to value people's lives and face up to the consequences of his “recklessness”. On the other hand, the offender's lawyer said that it was a mere accident and they will appeal the verdict within the next 30 days. It is expected that the final verdict will not arrive any time soon. Ordinarily, if the private right isn't dropped, such cases can take years before they are resolved. In the infamous “Abu Kab” case in 2005, Faisal Al-Otaibi, a Saudi naval officer, caused the death of three passengers travelling with him. Al-Otaibi rented a car and performed a so-called “drifting” stunt at 120 kph which resulted in the fatalities. Bader Khethela, the father of two of the three boys killed in that accident (Ahmad, 14, and Abdul Aziz, 11), sought Al-Otaibi's execution as an exertion of his family's private right under Shariah: The choice between accepting blood money (diyah) or insisting on the death penalty. Al-Otaibi fought a two-year highly publicized legal battle in a Jeddah court to avoid execution for the deaths. In 2009, the Supreme Court finally upheld a verdict of 3,000 lashes, 20 years in prison and a lifetime ban on driving issued by a Jeddah court. The court rejected a subsequent appeal by the plaintiff to reduce the sentence.
