Tallahassee Democrat
May 11, 2008
Rachael Hoffman, a 2007 Florida State University graduate, had recently become an informant for the Tallahassee Police Department after multiple drugs were found in her apartment, police said. She was also in a diversion program after a 2007 drug charge.
Hoffman's death this week during a drug sting has raised questions about law enforcement's use of confidential informants.Most of the questions are still unanswered.
"There are about a hundred questions I have and a hundred questions her family has," said Hoffman's attorney, Johnny Devine. "And a lot of them begin with 'why.'"
Hoffman, 23, was found dead Friday in rural Taylor County. Murder charges are pending against Andrea J. Green, 25, and Deneilo Bradshaw, 22, police said.
Her attorneys and the State Attorney's Office say they were not aware she was working with police. "My job is to keep her out of harm's way, but I didn't have an opportunity because I didn't know," Devine said.
State Attorney Willie Meggs said it's common practice for his office to be notified when someone already in the justice system is recruited as an informant.
"I am not aware of that ever happening before," Meggs said of not being notified. "Typically, we do know."
TPD spokesman David McCranie said police limit the people who know who their informants are. He said Meggs' office is informed when someone on probation is recruited, but Hoffman was in a drug diversion program.
"We did not feel her participation as a confidential informant would in any way impede her ability to complete the diversion program," McCranie said. "If we need to make changes, we'll do so."
Hoffman's friends said she helped police because she was terrified of going to jail. Devine said that, had Hoffman asked, he would have given her the same advice he typically gives clients: Don't do it."It's not worth it to put your life at risk to avoid a prosecution," he said.
Hoffman was facing charges of possession of ecstasy with intent to sell, possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, maintaining a drug house and possession of drug paraphernalia, Police Chief Dennis Jones said.
There is no record of Hoffman's recent run-in with police in the court system or in jail logs. McCranie said the department would release the arrest report Monday.
TPD chief to review drug operation
Tallahassee police have expressed sadness over Hoffman's death, but they've been tight-lipped about the circumstances and about their practice of using informants. "We don't twist arms to get people to do this," McCranie said. "We have people tell us no all the time."
Informants are necessary, McCranie said. "The nature of the drug business is extremely dangerous, extremely covert," he said. "The only way you can infiltrate these kinds of organizations is to utilize the people involved in the trade."
Devine described Hoffman as a poor choice for the operation. He said she was in a different league than Green, who spent nearly nine months in prison in 2004-2005 for aggravated assault and selling marijuana in Taylor County, and Bradshaw, who was arrested in Leon County twice last year for possession of marijuana. "You would never put them in the same room together," Devine said. "It's not like she was a hardened criminal who had been in the (justice) system for a long time."
McCranie said it's up to informants to contact their attorneys or family. He said police are trained to assess whether someone would make a good informant and often turn people away. He described Hoffman as a mature, college-educated adult who police felt would follow directions.
Jones said Hoffman had agreed to buy 1,500 pills of ecstasy, 2 ounces of cocaine and a gun from the two men.
He said she was supposed to meet Green and Bradshaw near Forestmeadows Park in northeast Tallahassee and that it was under police surveillance. But she drove off to meet the men somewhere else, he said.
"Unfortunately," he said during a news conference Friday, "Rachel chose to ignore precautions established in a previous briefing as well as the direction of her case agent."
Police have been asked but have yet to say how close they were to Hoffman during the operation, how many officers were involved, where she drove and how they lost her. McCranie said the operation will be reviewed by Jones.
Hoffman's attorneys responded Saturday to the comments made by TPD. The attorneys sent out an extensive news release, which is printed in its entirety on page 6A of today's
Tallahassee Democrat.
College students vulnerable
The heavy penalties facing drug offenders create pressure to cooperate with law enforcement, said Kris Krane, executive director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. The Washington, D.C.-based group advocates that drug use be treated as a public-health issue rather than a law-enforcement issue, and has chapters on 120 campuses. "The overwhelming majority of informants are people busted for drugs," Krane said. "Police can do an effective job of scaring people — especially young people — into complicity. People are getting caught in the middle of the war on drugs every day."
That's especially true for college students, Krane said, because they risk losing their financial aid if they have a drug conviction. He said young people often don't know their rights and should seek counsel if arrested.
"It's really important that the students understand what's at risk," he said. "Obviously, talk to an attorney before making any decision to cooperate with police."
Attorney: Cooperation good choice for some
Ethan Way, president of the Tallahassee chapter of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, was more open to the practice of using informants. He said his recommendations would be made on a case-by-case basis based on the risk involved, whether there's a clear benefit for the defendant, and his level of trust in the agency.
"If ... there's a trust element between the lawyer and law enforcement and the client you might set that kind of transaction up."
In any case, he said, defendants should exercise their right to stay silent and call their attorney.
"I think bringing the lawyer into the loop helps everybody," he said, because the attorney often can tell if a specific client could be useful to police or is prone to making poor decisions.Her attorneys and the State Attorney's Office say they were not aware she was working with police.
"My job is to keep her out of harm's way, but I didn't have an opportunity because I didn't know," Devine said.
additional links below....
also see the videos with articles.
Who was Rachael Hoffman:
http://tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=CD&Dato=20080509&Kategori=PHOTOS03&Lopenr=509003&Ref=PH
Attorneys for Hoffman family issue news release critical of TPD :
http://tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080511/NEWS01/805110315
Suspects lead police to Hoffman's body in Taylor County :
http://tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080510/NEWS01/805100317
Family of suspects offers sympathies, apologies to Hoffman family:
http://tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080511/NEWS01/805110332
Hoffman's friends recall her love for life
http://tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080510/NEWS01/805100318
