Marijuana Policy Project

Rachel Hoffman's participation in a court-ordered drug-treatment program should have precluded her from buying drugs for police, legal and mental-health professionals said Tuesday.

"It is my strong preference that the people who are in drug court not be around this kind of thing," Assistant State Attorney Owen McCaul said. "Drug court is to help them overcome drug addiction, and it's difficult for them to do that if they're living the lifestyle."

Hoffman, 23, was found dead Friday in rural Taylor County following a police-controlled drug buy gone awry. Deneilo Bradshaw, 22, and Andrea J. Green, 25, have been charged with kidnapping and armed robbery in connection with her disappearance.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced Tuesday that it would conduct the investigation into Hoffman's murder. Murder charges have not been filed, and Assistant State Attorney Jackie Fulford said prosecutors would wait for the investigation to be complete.

Nancy Daniels, Public Defender for the 2nd Judicial Circuit, said the drug court has an "informal practice" of not having people in drug court work as informants — "the thinking being that someone in drug court is trying to get away from drug activity and drug use," she said.

David McCranie, spokesman for the Tallahassee Police Department, said the department is committed to reviewing its procedures in the wake of the Hoffman case.

"Based on what we know now, there appears to be some miscommunication between our investigators and the protocol (of the judicial system)," he said. "We will work with the State Attorney's Office and the Public Defender's Office to make sure we understand what the others want."

Hoffman entered Leon County's felony drug court in April 2007 after being pulled over in February 2007 with 25.7 grams of cannabis in her car. The program offers first-time drug offenders a chance to overcome addiction and clear their record by following a regimen of drug tests and group counseling for 12 to 18 months.

Police recruited Hoffman as an informant last month after they found drugs in her home, but they never charged her with a crime and didn't tell anyone in drug court what they found. McCranie said investigators knew Hoffman was in the drug diversion program.

"Her participation in the program — (investigators) evaluated it and didn't think her participation would impact her ability to complete the program," he said.

Jerry Burghout, director of A Life Recovery Center, said the secretive nature of confidential informant work makes it incompatible with rehabilitation. The center provides drug testing and counseling for drug court participants in Leon County.

"We work diligently in breaking down barriers and secrets, but it's kind of hard to work with someone who's invested in keeping secrets from their therapist," Burghout said. "I always say, you're only as sick as your secrets."