Cougars’ McCall pleads not guilty

COLFAX – Kevin McCall, a backup running back at Washington State, pled not guilty to a charge of third-degree rape at his arraignment in Whitman County Superior Court Friday.

McCall’s lawyer, Pullman attorney Timothy Esser, requested as early a trial as possible and was granted a start date of May 23. A trial readiness hearing will take place 10 days earlier.

McCall was arrested by the WSU Police Department on March 7 after a female student in Regents Hall contacted the department a day earlier.

Whitman County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Carol LaVerne also filed a motion at the arraignment to prevent the defense from sharing any pictures of the alleged victim or any information about her medical records.

McCall, 19, had already been released on $10,000 bond at an earlier hearing. Expected to be the primary backup to Jerome Harrison this season, McCall has been suspended from the football team pending a resolution to the case.

Third degree rape is a Class C felony and is defined as non-consensual sexual intercourse out of wedlock with the threat of substantial harm to the property rights of the victim.

Glenn Kasses, staff writer