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 ...
2. You lose the argument when you reduce yourself to insults.
I see.
And well beyond your abilty to answer.
The problem is you don't.
Good luck on this thread, I give up. The dopers can have their party.
Here in Chicago, cops have beaten suspects into confession of murder. That’s reality.
It’s fun to watch them yowl.
If you want to see Obama or Hillary look in the mirror. They both live there. If you can't figure this out shut up and stay away from me.
blackbart.223 in Wonderland.
I am not a "doper". I just question bad judgement. If that taints me in your eye so be it.
She does something to herself, she pays the price herself. Are YOU hurt by her drug use? I sure am not. Nor is it your business or mine what she does to herself. Only what she might do to get money to feed her habit... and there are laws to punish theft and robbery already on the books. So unless you are a control freakazoid with less than two brain cells to rub together, you’d have to agree that her problem is HER problem, and NOT one that needs to be aggravated by the drug warriors. (Oh, but that IS you, isn’t it? Because you “think” it’s your business what she ingests. Like pot’s going to make her turn into a bat or something.)
He complains about the use of english and diction but look at his.
She cut the deal, she paid the price.
I guess I just lost my head. He pushed the right buttons to piss me off.
When the “representatives” step so far out of line, it becomes time for the people to take back government and shrink it to fit the chains of the Constitution. A document I doubt you’d understand much about.
Voters oppose legalized dope,
Jones, the self-serving chief of that collection of Keystone Kops? When the D.A. was never even notified of her arrest? You want to quote that tired jackass? Even YOU should have some sort of standards. Guess you don’t, though.
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