A football player on a prominent team plays while facing charges. Is he unfairly being made an example of or getting a break?

In the situation of Cam Hall, a Boise State safety, the case has become an impassioned battleground beyond Idaho.

In Boise, letters to the editor in the Idaho Statesman have ranged from suggestions to "... go easy on Cam" to "the only roster he should be placed on is the Ada County jail roadside trash collection crew." Western Athletic Conference message boards have joined the debate.

We know the heat of the issue having heard from both sides — most vehemently from the pro-Hall side — in a flood of e-mails about a column that appeared in The Advertiser two days before the UH-Boise State game two weeks ago.

The case is more complex than we made it appear in our original column. We have further researched the case, and this is what we found.

The column questioned whether the school should allow Hall to play after just a two-game suspension while he awaits trial in February on a felony charge (leaving the scene of an accident) and misdemeanor charge (reckless driving) surrounding a high speed May crash that resulted in the deaths of a family of three. The original column mistakenly said both were felony charges.

Prosecutors say as Hall approached an intersection at high speed a vehicle driven by Tony Perfect was entering to turn left and was cut off by Hall's car, causing Perfect to stop. Hall reportedly swerved and moved on. Perfect's vehicle was still in the intersection when hit by Mark Lazinka's vehicle, catapulting two people from the car and killing all three.

Both Hall and Lazinka, who faces vehicular manslaughter, have pleaded not guilty to what prosecutors characterize as an incident of racing at speeds up to 100 mph.

Hall's supporters said the witnesses were in error on the speed and Hall was fleeing from a road rage situation. Prosecutors say witnesses describe it as road racing, saying the two appeared to have been having a good time, laughing and smiling during the course of the event.

Prosecutors say Lazinka was found to have a blood alcohol level exceeding the threshold for drunken driving and Perfect was found to have both alcohol and methamphetamine in his system. Since Hall was not available to be interviewed until several hours later, authorities say they were unable to test him.

Hall's backers say his car was the target of beer cans tossed from Lazinka's vehicle. Prosecutors said no cans were found in the six-mile area.

Jon Cox, Hall's attorney, recently told the Associated Press: "If those people (blaming Hall) sat through the preliminary hearing and heard all the evidence, I think their attitudes would be different. They say those things without having all the information."

What is known is that it was a needless tragedy.

Not until justice is rendered will we probably know the truth behind it all.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.