[5][6] On 13 February 2023, following a three-month trial at the South Jakarta District Court, Sambo was found guilty and sentenced to death.

[10][11] However, in May 2023, Sambo filed a cassation appeal to the Supreme Court of Indonesia,[12] and on 8 August 2023 his sentence was commuted to one of life imprisonment.

[28] Head of Indonesian police, General Listyo Sigit Prabowo told a press conference that Sambo had fired multiple pistol shots into a wall in an attempt to show a gunfight had led to Hutabarat's death; there had been no shoot-out and that Sambo had orchestrated Hutabarat's murder.

[32] In parallel with the murder trial, seven former officers including Sambo were tried on charges of obstruction of justice related to alleged cover-ups and destruction of evidence.

[33] In January 2023, the court rejected allegations that Hutabarat had raped, sexually assaulted or had an adulterous affair with Sambo's wife, Putri Candrawathi.

[34] Prosecutors said Candrawathi had invented a story that she had been raped by Hutabarat, and had repeatedly changed her version of events leading up to the shooting.

[35] On 13 February 2023, Ferdy Sambo was found "legally and convincingly guilty" of the premeditated murder of Hutabarat and sentenced to death[36] – a penalty usually carried out in Indonesia by firing squad.

[38] Sambo has a week to appeal the verdict; his role as a law enforcer was seen by observers as a factor in the court imposing the maximum sentence – Ardi Manto Saputra, deputy director of human rights group Imparsial said Sambo had "tainted the reputation of law enforcement and the government's dignity".

[41][42] On 15 and 16 February 2023, lawyers for four defendants (Ma'ruf, Sambo, Candrawathi and Rizal) submitted appeals against their sentences;[43] prosecutors lodged counter-appeals.

[12] On 8 August 2023, Sambo's appeal was granted by the Supreme Court on a majority decision (3-2), thereby reducing his sentence to one of life imprisonment.