Kevin Boyar, a student accused of bringing weapons into the dorms last year, was convicted earlier this week on one count of carrying a firearm on campus.
Boyar and his attorney plan to appeal the decision on the grounds that Boyar did not know guns were not allowed on campus.
Boyar was charged with a petty misdemeanor of tampering with evidence and four counts of carrying a firearm on campus. He pleaded not guilty to the charges on May 14.
Boyar could not be reached for comment.
Janet Blair, Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court spokeswoman, said Boyar was convicted and given a conditional discharge sentence.
"(That) means that if he follows all of the requirements of the court, then the case will be dismissed in six months," she said. "He is required to be on supervised probation, and he must attend a gun-safety class."
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Blair said a motion hearing is scheduled in six months to review Boyar's progress.
Kari Morrissey, Boyar's attorney, said she turned in Boyar's appeal to the court's decision today.
Morrissey said the statute used to convict Boyar questions whether the student brought the weapons on campus and whether there were well-posted signs saying no weapons are allowed on campus.
"It's a constitutional right to have a firearm, and students need to know that weapons are not allowed on campus," she said. "It's a place you call home, so we are appealing it for that reason."
Assistant District Attorney Sammy Hurtado, who prosecuted Boyar, said the former student was convicted on only one count because of the motions passed by Judge Judith Nakamura to suppress evidence from his case.
"Due to the judge's suppression of those critical items of evidence, the state was no longer able to proceed on the original four counts," Hurtado said. "After all the evidence that was suppressed, the only thing that we were able to proceed on was the remaining one count of unlawful possession of a firearm."
Nakamura ruled to suppress statements Boyar made after his arrest, in which he confessed that he had had the guns in his dorm room. She also suppressed evidence recovered from Boyar's parents' home, where he allegedly took the weapons.
Blair previously told the Daily Lobo that the evidence was suppressed because the search warrant used to recover the weapons was used incorrectly. To arrest a person on a misdemeanor charge, police must either see the crime take place or have an arrest warrant signed by a judge.
However, Nakamura chose not to suppress evidence collected from Boyar's dorm room by UNMPD.
Hurtado said UNM Police officers testified to the items found in Boyar's dorm room, which included a picture showing the weapons in Boyar's room, receipts showing the recent purchase of weapons, a cleaning kit for weapons and a laser sight.
Dean of Students Randy Boeglin said the University is waiting to hear about Boyar's appeal to find out when they can schedule a University disciplinary action case against him.
Boeglin said Boyar requested to defer his disciplinary action case until after the court case was closed.
"What we will do once we know that the court case concludes Downtown - we will contact him to determine if he is not proceeding ahead with an appeal, then we would have an expectation to bring his code of conduct case forward," Boeglin said.
