Fatal Methods

Questions are being raised in Florida about law enforcement's use and choice of confidential informants. According to the Tallahassee Democrat May 11, 2008 article,("Hoffman's Death Sparks Debate About Informants") 'Hoffman, 23, was found dead Friday in rural Taylor County. 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.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."

The article adds, "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. 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.' 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."

The article notes, "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 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.' 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."