May 11, 2008 -- Tallahassee Democrat (FL) Hoffman's Death Sparks Debate About Informants Attorney, Family Want Questions Answered By Julian Pecquet, Democrat Staff Writer

Return to Drug War News: Don't Miss Archive

(Original article, with pictures & comments)

Rachel 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.

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.

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.

Photo: Rachel Hoffman was killed while working as a police informer in a drug case in Tallahassee

More on Rachel Hoffman: www.mapinc.org/people/Rachel+Hoffman

May 10, 2008 -- Tallahassee Democrat (FL)

Suspects Lead Police To Hoffman's Body In Taylor County

By Nic Corbett, Democrat Staff Writer

(Original article, with pictures & comments)

Rachel Morningstar Hoffman knew what jail was like, and friends say she didn't want to go back.

Hoffman, 23, a 2007 Florida State University graduate, was found dead in rural Taylor County early Friday after two men suspected in her kidnapping and robbery led investigators to her body. Murder charges are pending, according to the Tallahassee Police Department.

Hoffman was last seen Wednesday night near Forestmeadows Park while attempting to assist TPD vice investigators by buying drugs and a gun from two men.

When Hoffman agreed to help police, she was facing multiple felony charges and was in a diversion program after being caught with more than 20 grams of marijuana, Chief Dennis Jones said in a news conference Friday.

"It is not unusual to have known drug dealers or users offer to assist police in narcotics investigations," Jones said. "Rachel was no exception."

The Tallahassee Democrat requested a copy of Hoffman's arrest report but was told that it was not available Friday evening. TPD spokesman David McCranie said the report would be made available Monday.

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, Jones said.

She agreed to buy 1,500 pills of ecstasy, 2 ounces of cocaine or crack cocaine and a gun from two men, Andrea J. Green and Deneilo Bradshaw, Jones said. The two were arrested Thursday in Orlando. The purchase was to take place near the northeast Tallahassee park.

"Unfortunately, Rachel chose to ignore precautions established in a previous briefing as well as the direction of her case agent," Jones said.

Hoffman left the Forestmeadows Park area, where several police officers were watching her, to meet Green and Bradshaw, McCranie said. She spoke with a vice officer on the phone, who begged her to stay, but she hung up, he said.

Police tried to stop her, but were unsuccessful, McCranie said. He would not elaborate on how TPD officers lost sight of Hoffman or where she went.

"I'm just upset that they didn't protect her," said Carlton Lahmann, a friend of Hoffman's. "They could have been there for her, and they weren't."

Hoffman's attorney, Johnny Devine, said he was "very angry" that Tallahassee police didn't tell him that they'd asked Hoffman to be an informant. He said he only found out that something was wrong when her mother called him Wednesday night after police called the family.

"I see my role as protecting my clients," Devine said. "I was not able to give her any advice on being a confidential informant because I wasn't informed. And I wish to God I would have been."

He said he advises clients not to become informants because of the risks.

McCranie would not say whether Hoffman was wearing a wire, but another of Hoffman's friends, Shaina Hale, recalls Hoffman saying that police wanted her to do so. Police did not say why Hoffman was doing the bust, but McCranie said she was not coerced and helped willingly.

"We're not here to threaten or intimidate people," he said. "That's part of being a professional."

Hoffman found Green and Bradshaw herself, he said.

"We did not introduce her to these people," he said. "She introduced them to us."

Hale and other friends said they think police scared Hoffman into thinking she was going to spend years in prison for the felony charges if she didn't become an informant.

"She didn't want to go back to jail, so basically, they used that experience to scare her," Hale said.

Hoffman went to jail April 4-6 for failure to appear for a drug test, according to court records. That stems from an arrest when she was pulled over for speeding Feb. 22, 2007. An officer found 25.7 grams of cannabis in her car, court records show. She was sentenced to probation, community service, and she was required to attend a drug-rehabilitation program.

Hale picked up Hoffman after her three-day stint in the Leon County Jail. Hoffman told Hale she only ate oranges while there. She asked Hale to stop to buy Gatorade before Hale dropped her off at a friend's house. Hoffman joked that the hair conditioner in jail was bad and that she felt "gross."

"She tried to make light of it," Hale said. "But she was terrified. She couldn't sleep."

Ed Sonnenschein of Tallahassee another friend, said Hoffman was "flipped out" this week because of her dilemma.

"The police told her she had to give someone up," he recalled her telling him.

When Sonnenschein saw Hoffman on Monday, she was jumpy and couldn't relax from being so nervous.

"They (the men) would've taken one look at her and known something was up," he said.

Green and Bradshaw were arrested about 5 p.m. Thursday by Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents. They were flown to Tallahassee Friday morning. Police have not said how Hoffman died or her time of death.

Green, of Perry, spent nearly nine months in prison from 2004 to 2005 for selling marijuana and aggravated assault in Taylor County, according to the Florida Department of Corrections. Bradshaw was arrested in April and May 2007 on charges of possession of marijuana in Leon County.

Friday morning before Hoffman's parents were informed that their daughter's body was found, Hoffman's father offered a $150,000 reward for her safe return.

"This is my daughter," Irv Hoffman of Palm Harbor had said. "My heart's broken. We just want Rachel home safely."

Also visit our "Informants: Resources for a Snitch Culture" section.

For the latest drug war news, visit our friends and allies below

We are careful not to duplicate the efforts of other organizations, and as a grassroots coalition of prisoners and social reformers, our resources (time and money) are limited. The vast expertise and scope of the various drug reform organizations will enable you to stay informed on the ever-changing, many-faceted aspects of the movement. Our colleagues in reform also give the latest drug war news. Please check their websites often.

The Drug Policy Alliance

Drug Reform Coordination Network

Drug Sense and The Media Awareness Project