DAYS after he was convicted of murdering his friend, Foster Gravesande has moved to the Court of Appeal, seeking to have the conviction and his 56-year sentence overturned.
He was convicted by a 12-member jury in December 2020 and was sentenced by trial judge, Justice Navindra Singh, at the Georgetown High Court on January 7, 2021.
He was convicted of the offence which read that, on April 09, 2017, he murdered 49-year-old Courtney Porter. Gravesande was represented by Attorney-at-law Dexter Todd while the State was represented by prosecutor, Teriq Mohammed.During the sentencing hearing, Mohammed said that the case concerned “the senseless killing of one friend by another.”
Justice Singh found no mitigating factors because, in his view, Gravesande showed no remorse that the victim died due to his actions.

The judge sentenced Gravesande to 56 years with the possibility of parole after serving 28 years.
Gravesande, through his attorney, subsequently filed a Notice of Appeal to challenge his conviction and sentence.
In his appeal, Gravesande is arguing that the trial was unfair, that the judge erred in law and that the sentence was unduly severe. He is also contending that the trial judge admitted evidence that was prejudicial to a fair trial.
The Guyana Chronicle had reported that, on March 25, 2017, Porter was reportedly beaten to the head with a piece of wood by Gravesande who had accused him of pulling his wife’s clothes. Porter was hospitalised and succumbed to his injures on April 9, 2017.