Florida Senate - 2010 (NP) SB 24
By Senator Lawson
6-00128-10 201024__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act for the relief of Irving Hoffman and Marjorie
3 Weiss, parents of Rachel Hoffman, by the City of
4 Tallahassee; providing for an appropriation to
5 compensate Irving Hoffman and Marjorie Weiss,
6 individually and as co-personal representatives of the
7 Estate of Rachel Hoffman, for the wrongful death of
8 Rachel Hoffman, which was due to the negligence of the
9 Tallahassee Police Department; providing a limitation
10 on the payment of fees and costs; providing an
11 effective date.
12
13 WHEREAS, Rachel Hoffman, the only child of Irving Hoffman
14 and Marjorie Weiss, was born on December 17, 1984, graduated
15 from Florida State University, and lived in Tallahassee,
16 Florida, and
17 WHEREAS, on April 17, 2008, the Tallahassee Police
18 Department conducted a search of Rachel Hoffman’s apartment and
19 found approximately 150 grams of marijuana and six
20 nonprescription pills, and at that time advised her that she was
21 facing serious felony charges and prison time or she could “make
22 all of the charges go away,” by serving as a confidential
23 informant, and
24 WHEREAS, Rachel Hoffman, who was in a drug court
25 intervention program and represented by counsel, agreed to
26 become a confidential informant for the Tallahassee Police
27 Department without advice of counsel because she was told not to
28 tell anyone, and
29 WHEREAS, the Tallahassee Police Department violated its own
30 policies and procedures by not advising the state attorney’s
31 office and the drug court of what it had found in Rachel
32 Hoffman’s apartment, and
33 WHEREAS, if the Tallahassee Police Department had advised
34 the state attorney’s office of its findings, Rachel Hoffman
35 would not have been allowed to participate in the department’s
36 confidential informant program because such participation is a
37 violation of the terms of the drug court contract, and
38 WHEREAS, according to Dennis Jones, Chief of the
39 Tallahassee Police Department, and in conformance with the
40 department’s policies and procedures, the supervising case
41 manager should have terminated the use of Rachel as a
42 confidential informant because of her lack of maturity and
43 experience in serving as a confidential informant, and
44 WHEREAS, the supervising case manager for the Tallahassee
45 Police Department and Rachel Hoffman developed a plan whereby
46 Rachel Hoffman would purchase 1,500 MDMA pills, also known as
47 “ecstasy,” 2 to 3 ounces of cocaine, and a weapon from Andrea
48 Green and Daneilo Bradshaw, who were targets of an investigation
49 and with whom Rachel Hoffman had no previous contact or
50 dealings, and
51 WHEREAS, the Tallahassee Police Department knew or should
52 have known that Andrea Green had a history of violence, had been
53 convicted of violent crimes, and was dangerous, and
54 WHEREAS, the Tallahassee Police Department knew or should
55 have known that on May 5, 2008, 2 days before the controlled
56 drug-buy operation, the other target of the investigation,
57 Daneilo Bradshaw, was listed in a departmental police report as
58 the prime suspect in the theft of a .25 caliber handgun from the
59 car of a customer at a car wash where Bradshaw was employed, and
60 WHEREAS, Rachel Hoffman had never purchased cocaine and did
61 not have a history of dealing in cocaine or MDMA, and had no
62 experience with firearms and had never purchased a firearm, and
63 WHEREAS, Rachel Hoffman had never acted as a confidential
64 informant, had never been involved in a controlled drug-buy
65 operation, and was unfamiliar with the geographical area that
66 had been designated for this particular transaction, and
67 WHEREAS, Rachel Hoffman was assured by the Tallahassee
68 Police Department that she would be observed by and in audio
69 communication with law enforcement officers at all times, and
70 that when the buy was complete the police would immediately
71 respond, arrest the targets of the investigation, and rescue her
72 from danger, and
73 WHEREAS, on May 7, 2008, the Tallahassee Police Department
74 conducted a briefing with the law enforcement officers assigned
75 to participate in the operation, but, in violation of the
76 department’s policies and procedures, they were not briefed that
77 a gun would be present, and
78 WHEREAS, the plan was for the controlled buy to take place
79 at a designated location at a private home in a large
80 subdivision off of North Meridian Road, but after the briefing
81 and just prior to leaving the police station, the location was
82 changed by Green and Bradshaw to Forestmeadows Park on North
83 Meridian Road, and
84 WHEREAS, Forestmeadows Park is a popular, highly frequented
85 public park where families and children congregate and is not a
86 suitable and safe location to conduct an operation involving a
87 known violent criminal who was expected to have a loaded firearm
88 present, and
89 WHEREAS, the Tallahassee Police Department chose to engage
90 the assistance of the United States Drug Enforcement Agency but
91 not the Leon County Sheriff’s Department, even though sheriff’s
92 department officers are more knowledgeable of the street
93 locations in that geographical area, and
94 WHEREAS, as Rachel Hoffman approached Forestmeadows Park in
95 her vehicle at approximately 6:40 p.m. on the evening of May 7,
96 Green and Bradshaw again changed the meeting location to a
97 nearby plant nursery parking lot located north of the park on
98 Meridian Road and outside the city limits, which was permitted
99 by the supervising case manager and other law enforcement
100 officers involved in the operation in violation of the
101 department’s policies and procedures, and
102 WHEREAS, after Rachel Hoffman drove past Forestmeadows
103 Park, the Tallahassee Police Department lost visual sight of her
104 and the listening device in her car ceased to function, but she
105 had no way of knowing that none of the law enforcement officers
106 entrusted with monitoring her safety were watching or listening
107 to her, and
108 WHEREAS, the targets of the investigation, Green and
109 Bradshaw, directed Rachel Hoffman via cellular telephone to
110 another location, Gardner Road, which was north of the plant
111 nursery and outside the city limits, and
112 WHEREAS, of the 19 law enforcement officers who were
113 involved in the operation, only one knew where Gardner Road was
114 located, and
115 WHEREAS, after losing all contact with Rachel Hoffman, the
116 Tallahassee Police Department negligently failed to timely
117 intervene on her behalf even though the surveillance team was
118 only 2 minutes from the Gardner Road location, and
119 WHEREAS, Rachel Hoffman was shot to death by the .25
120 caliber handgun that she was to have purchased from Green and
121 Bradshaw, and
122 WHEREAS, by the time law enforcement personnel arrived at
123 the Gardner Road location, Rachel Hoffman, Andrea Green, and
124 Daneilo Bradshaw were gone, and the only evidence recorded was
125 one flip-flop sandal, two live .25 caliber rounds, one spent .25
126 caliber round, and tire marks, and
127 WHEREAS, hours later Rachel Hoffman’s cellular telephone
128 was found in a ditch miles away from the Gardner Road location,
129 and
130 WHEREAS, at approximately 2 a.m. on the morning of May 8,
131 2008, Sgt. Odom of the Tallahassee Police Department called
132 Marjorie Weiss, the mother of Rachel Hoffman, and Irving
133 Hoffman, the father, and advised them that their daughter was
134 missing, but did not provide any further information, and
135 WHEREAS, when Irving Hoffman and Marjorie Weiss arrived
136 later that afternoon at the Tallahassee police station after
137 driving from their homes in Pinellas County, they were met by
138 the Chief of the Tallahassee Police Department and other police
139 department officials and told that their daughter was missing
140 but that no other information was available regarding the
141 circumstances of her disappearance, and
142 WHEREAS, it was not until 2 days later, on May 9, 2008,
143 that Rachel Hoffman’s body was found near Perry, Florida,
144 approximately 50 miles away, shot multiple times by the gun that
145 the Tallahassee Police Department had required her to purchase,
146 and
147 WHEREAS, upon the discovery of Rachel Hoffman’s body, the
148 Chief and Public Information Officer of the Tallahassee Police
149 Department appeared before the media and blamed Rachel Hoffman
150 for her death, stating that she had failed to follow
151 “established protocols,” but refused to explain what those
152 protocols were and did not admit any negligence or wrongdoing on
153 the part of the department, and
154 WHEREAS, while watching television, Irving Hoffman and
155 Marjorie Weiss learned for the first time that their daughter
156 was murdered while serving in an undercover capacity for the
157 Tallahassee Police Department, and
158 WHEREAS, the Tallahassee Police Department committed
159 multiple acts of negligence in recruiting Rachel Hoffman as a
160 confidential informant and in the planning and execution of the
161 controlled drug-buy operation, and
162 WHEREAS, on August 1, 2008, a Leon County Grand Jury
163 returned indictments against Andrea Green and Daneilo Bradshaw
164 for the murder of Rachel Hoffman, and, “[d]uring the course of
165 [its] review of the facts, it became apparent to [the grand
166 jury] that negligent conduct on the part of Tallahassee Police
167 Department and D.E.A. attributed to Ms. Hoffman’s death,” and
168 WHEREAS, the grand jury found that the transaction
169 requiring the purchase of 1,500 ecstasy pills, 2 1/2 ounces of
170 cocaine, and a firearm from individuals with whom she had no
171 previous contact “placed her in a position way over her head,”
172 and
173 WHEREAS, the grand jury found that the command staff of the
174 Tallahassee Police Department was negligent in its supervision,
175 review, and execution of the planned controlled drug and weapon
176 buy, and stated that, “letting a young, immature woman get into
177 a car by herself with $13,000 to go off and meet two convicted
178 felons that they knew were bringing at least one firearm with
179 them was an unconscionable decision that cost Ms. Hoffman her
180 life,” and
181 WHEREAS, the grand jury determined, based on the evidence
182 and testimony of police officers who participated in the
183 surveillance operation, that Rachel Hoffman believed that she
184 was being closely watched, followed, and listened to, and she
185 remained on the phone with Green and Bradshaw as they directed
186 her down Gardner Road, and
187 WHEREAS, “[w]hen she finally spoke to a T.P.D. officer on
188 the phone and told [him] where she was, she was told by the
189 officer to turn around and not follow the targets. The officer
190 heard no response and the phone went dead, and by that time it
191 was too late anyway. With the exception of one officer, nobody
192 else participating in the [t]ransaction even knew where Gardner
193 Road was,” and
194 WHEREAS, the grand jury determined that “through poor
195 planning and supervision, and a series of mistakes throughout
196 the [t]ransaction, T.P.D. handed Ms. Hoffman to Bradshaw and
197 Green to rob and kill her as they saw fit,” and
198 WHEREAS, the grand jury also determined that “[b]ased on
199 [Rachel Hoffman’s] immaturity and poor judgment..., she should
200 never have been used as a [c]onfidential [i]nformant. But if
201 [the Tallahassee Police Department was] going to use her, [it]
202 certainly had a responsibility to protect her as [it] assured
203 her [it] would,” and
204 WHEREAS, an investigation by the Florida Attorney General
205 determined that the Tallahassee Police Department had
206 insufficient policies and procedures and but also committed
207 numerous violations of its policies and procedures, and
208 WHEREAS, the internal affairs investigation conducted by
209 the Tallahassee Police Department cited 14 acts of negligence
210 based on its policies and procedures with respect to the
211 planning, supervision, and execution of the operation that led
212 to the murder of Rachel Hoffman, and
213 WHEREAS, the City of Tallahassee reprimanded four law
214 enforcement officers of the Tallahassee Police Department as a
215 direct result of the negligent handling of the planning,
216 supervision, and execution of the operation, and
217 WHEREAS, the City of Tallahassee discharged from its
218 employment the case manager who was responsible for the planning
219 and execution of the operation, and
220 WHEREAS, Rachel Hoffman’s murder has been a shocking and
221 devastating loss to her parents, both of whom are in a state of
222 intense, unresolved grief as a result of the death of their only
223 child, NOW, THEREFORE,
224
225 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
226
227 Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act are
228 found and declared to be true.
229 Section 2. The City of Tallahassee is authorized and
230 directed to appropriate from funds of the city not otherwise
231 appropriated and to draw a warrant in the sum of $ ,
232 payable to Irving Hoffman and Marjorie Weiss, individually and
233 as co-personal representatives of the Estate of Rachel Hoffman,
234 deceased, as compensation for the death of their daughter,
235 Rachel Hoffman.
236 Section 3. This award is intended to provide the sole
237 compensation for all present and future claims arising out of
238 the factual situation described in this act which resulted in
239 the death of Rachel Hoffman. The total amount paid for
240 attorney’s fees, lobbying fees, costs, and other similar
241 expenses relating to this claim may not exceed 25 percent of the
242 amount awarded under this act.
243 Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.