The man found guilty of murdering Lower Hutt woman Kate Alkema is appealing his conviction.
Nika Abraham, 21, was convicted in March of strangling Mrs Alkema as she walked along the Hutt River on April 13 last year.
His lawyer, Bryan Yeoman, told NZPA that appeal papers against the conviction had been
lodged with the Court of Appeal at Wellington.
He said he could not detail the appeal grounds.
"I can't comment on something that's before the court like that.
"There are several grounds. It's not an uncommon event (an appeal) given a 3-1/2 week trial.
"It's a process we go through in the course of a trial and there's always some things that happen that certainly lawyers will usually think needs to be taken on further... you'd be failing in your duty if you didn't test it. It's part of a thorough and ongoing process and the Court of Appeal will deal with it in the fullness of time."
Mr Yeoman said appeals usually took months rather than weeks to be heard.
Meanwhile, Mr Yeoman said he had not heard whether the crown intended to appeal the life sentence with a 13-year minimum non-parole period.
"I think they were looking at it but I think in all honesty that despite all the emotion in the press about it there was a fairly stiff sentence in respect to one person's life.
"I am not in any sense trying to diminish the value of a human life."
Mr Yeoman said triple murderer William Bell was sentenced to a minimum of 33 years for the three Mt Wellington-Panmure Returned Services Association murders.
"If you did that cold calculation of how many years per life, Bell actually got 11 years per life and effectively nothing for trying to kill somebody (bashing victim Susan Couch).
"One life for 13 years is as tough as you can get and I think people haven't looked at that... and taken that into account."
Earlier Mrs Alkema's family lodged a formal complaint about the sentence through the Judicial Complaints Process, a forum which polices judges' behaviour and which is administered by the chief justice.
The complaint, lodged by Sensible Sentencing Trust spokesman Garth McVicar, says Justice Young failed to take account of the seriousness of the crime and should have set a minimum of at least 17 years, in keeping with the spirit of the Sentencing Act passed last year.
Crown prosecutor Grant Burston was not immediately available for comment.
Meanwhile, Mr Yeoman said Abraham was coping with jail and was a "very good prisoner".
"In many respects he's a very good person to deal with, he's always been polite to me and honest with his dealings."
Abraham continued to protest his innocence, Mr Yeoman said.
- NZPA
The man found guilty of murdering Lower Hutt woman Kate Alkema is appealing his conviction.
Nika Abraham, 21, was convicted in March of strangling Mrs Alkema as she walked along the Hutt River on April 13 last year.
His lawyer, Bryan Yeoman, told NZPA that appeal papers against the conviction had been
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