Posted on 07/25/2008 8:49:03 PM PDT by bamahead
After being caught twice with a "baggie" of marijuana, 23-year old Rachel Hoffman was reportedly told by police in Tallahassee, Florida that she would go to prison for four years unless she became an undercover informant.
The young woman, a recent graduate of Florida State University, was murdered during a botched sting operation two months ago.
"The idea of waging a war on drugs is to protect people and here it seems like we're putting people in harm's way," said Lance Block, a lawyer hired by Rachel's parents.
The Florida Attorney General's office says it is reviewing the procedures and protocol of the Tallahassee police.
"I'm calling her a criminal," Tallahassee police chief Dennis Jones told 20/20, who maintains that both drug dealers and drug users are considered criminals to his department.
Under Florida law, possession of more than 20 grams of marijuana is a felony.
The Tallahassee police chief says Rachel was suspected of selling drugs and she was rightly treated as a criminal.
"That's my job as a police chief to find these criminals in our community and take them off the street, to make the proper arrests," Jones told 20/20.
Rachel's case also is raising questions about how police recruit and use informants in undercover operations.
"There need to be some safeguards here," said Block, the Hoffman family lawyer.
The young woman received no training before being sent to an undercover meeting to buy a large amount of drugs and a handgun from two suspects.
Police says Rachel was killed by the very handgun she was supposed to buy.
"I don't think she understood the risk or danger that she was in," said Block.
Rachel was in a drug court diversion program when she became an informant.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
This is really something else...
This is wrong on too many levels. God forgive us.
I wish I could say I was shocked, but I’m not. One more time: The. Police. Are. Not. Your. Friends. This chief should be fired and face charges.
Something is sadly wrong with the justice system in Florida. I suppose we only read about the bad cases, but there sure are a lot of them.
The leauuuu IS criminal.
Prohibition creates black markets.
Prohibition gave Joe Kennedy mega bucks!!!!
Prohibition today gives MS13 all the money they want!
Capitalism is the best weapon to defeat them. Legalize everything. Flood the market, sink the price/profits. Make the criminals find new employment.
Legalize marijuana plain and simple. It is safer than alcohol.
Well, they did get this cunning criminal off the streets....For ever...
Just Florida?
It ain’t just Florida. Bought allergy medicine lately? Gave them your ID so the info will be collected and then passed onto the DEA who will decide whether or not your allergies are too severe? We’re all suspects now.
Saw a news/documentary that since weed is such the norm in Amsterdam it’s no longer cosidered “cool”.
Legalize marijuana plain and simple. It is safer than alcohol.
Right. The penalties faced for possession and use of marijuana are worse than the harmful effects from the drug. Our current drug laws lead our police departments and courts into illegality and corruption.
Pot should be legal, plain and simple.
“Legalize marijuana plain and simple.”
Mandatory prison time @ hard labor for using it!!
From personal experience, never hire anyone that uses it, they think they are really doing a great job and they aren’t doing squat!
I fired them, no second chance!
You probably have a lot more employees smoking pot than you think. The one you fired was just one who couldn’t control his reality, people like that will screw up their lives with or without pot, if they can’t find a drug to hook onto people like that get dumb about the opposite sex.
I could say the same thing for alcohol users.
Pot is harmless.
that’s the only thing that’ll ruin the U.S. economy quicker than obama
Flame on!
Use the money that would have gone to Dennis Jones and his staff pay and retirements to pay off Rachele parents.
What do the citizens need them for if untrained little girls are doing the work?
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