HOFFMAN'S DEATH SPARKS DEBATE ABOUT INFORMANTS

Attorney, Family Want Questions Answered

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.