It is a misdemeanor. And yes, it also fits the mold as a felony (any criminal charge over 1 year), as well. It's a "tranny". And "Felony" is on his record. But it's also a misdemeanor. LOL.
But here's two things to consider, playing Devil's (CMU) Advocate in an Honest way to put things in perspective:
(a) He was not a CMU student (yet) when this incident occurred. It happened in April (although he was transferrING to CMU from UM). Why it took them until September to Charge him, I'll admit, is odd -- as it took them a while to investigate and give testimony, etc amongst multiple people about it. Maybe not super-clean-cut case in "who did what exactly" when it came to him and his friends.
(b) He's part of THIS: "Holmes Youthful Trainee Act - State law allows a judge to place a youth between 17 and 20 who is alleged to have committed a crime and who has pleaded guilty to that crime to be placed in prison or on probation
without a conviction to avoid a criminal record. ... This action protects the privacy of the offender while on
trainee status. If the youth successfully completes the program, there is no criminal record. Imprisonment or probation cannot exceed three years."
As pointed out by CMU Fan in other board: "At sentencing, per agreement with the prosecutor, defense attorney, and the judge, if Mr. Rawls completes the "temporary probation" (similar to a "delayed sentence" in District Court), the misdemeanor charge will be erased from all court records. However, unless his attorney requests the actual "arrest" record removed as well, the charges will remain with the tribal police (and I don't see the defense counsel failing in that regard either)."
-----
Now, with all that said, I'm not being Rawls' buddy. It's a Felony by definition, but also misdemeanor by name and it's Title -- and how it affects a few minor things (1 year max in county jail where one would go for a high-court misdemeanor, as opposed to an true-blue Felony).
I think the real question is: How does this John Holmes Act (
) affect his Present record? Sounds like he is STILL guilty, but it delays Sentencing. I would imagine kind of like getting a minor infraction of something like a noise violation -- but going off, doing 10-20 hours of community service by a certain due date -- so you pay no fine and it gets expunged. But obviously a bigger deal being dealt with.
IMO, it's enough to make it possibly "ok" to allow him on the team, from a legal standpoint, I guess.
HOWEVER, a team should have their own rules about stuff.
Ray Rice was Understandably Not Charged, because it'd take his fiance/wife to do that. However, the NFL was right to kick him out. So by that rationale, yes, Rawls, IMO, should be suspended for a year, or possibly until that charge has been expunged.