That Alex W. was convicted of killing Marwa el-Sherbini and sentenced to life in prison was not surprising — she was stabbed in front of  eyewitnesses in a lethal attack just after giving testimony in the same Dresden courthouse where he was tried. His trial seemed a mere formality. It was nonetheless closely watched by Germany’s 4 million Muslims, as well as the wider Muslim world, as a way of gauging how serious Germany was about confronting what Muslims see as a rising tide of Islamophobia and racism in the country. Today defendant’s counsel appealed the verdict given last wednesday and says to take  this case to the Federal Court of Justice. The defense team had sought a manslaughter conviction and questioned the Dresden state court’s finding that Alex W. could be held fully criminally responsible.