A recipe for disaster: The Rachel Hoffman case

As a Chemical Dependency counselor, I can assure you this unfortunate lady was a good daughter, wonderful friend and bright sensitive human being.  And an addict as well as drug dealer.  She chose to smoke marijuana, a crime, and she decided to deal marijuana, another crime, in order to allow her to smoke marijuana. The penalties are well known in those circles, and she chose to take her chances.

Then she chose to attempt to avoid the consequences of her choices by cooperating with the authorities.

Having said that, the police assumed an unconditional obligation to completely protect her.  Those officers and administrators involved should be subject to criminal prosecution with manslaughter being the least felony allowed.  Absolutely criminal behavior on the part of the cops.

People always denying responsibility, that's America nowadays, but if she would have accepted her consequences and not try to deal her way out of it, then she wouldn't be dead. I feel the anquish of her parents, but if they would have raised her better, than she wouldn't have been into drugs in the first place. Same goes with her friends that she had, true friends wouldn't have let her get into what she did. The big question is she in heaven or hell?

Knowing one you need to come out from under your rock.  Are you seriously saying that she deserved to die because she smoked pot!?  I hate to break it to you but as a college student myself I can tell you that a HUGE pecentage of college kids smoke pot and NONE of them deserve what happened to this poor girl.  You are a heartless ignorant fool my friend!

I am absolutely appalled at the comments made by "Knowing One." How dare you criticize the way her parents raised her. From everything I can see they were doting, loving parents. You could be the best parent in the world and not be able to control the actions of your children once they reach adult age and even before. Rachel smoked pot...so what? I do not believe that marijuana is a gateway drug and it certainly shouldn't have the legal ramifications that it has. Rachel did not deserve to die, her parents should NEVER have had to bury their daughter. The police should be ashamed of themselves for putting a young woman in a situation like this without even doing background checks on the men they were trying to bust.

Knowing One, if you have kids I can only hope they never get into any trouble themselves because you are an ignorant and judgemental person who needs to open your eyes to the world around you.

To Rachel's family and friends...my heart goes out to you all and I can only pray that you find peace knowing that Rachel will always be with you. I pray for justice for her senseless death. RIP Rachel.

I see Knowing One you are One of Those, a Know Nothing. There is no indication that her parents raised her "wrong". She was a bright, caring, loving and loved young woman who lost her life because of archaic drug laws and a legal system that basicly blackmailed her into become what usually is reserved for  low lifes that have no expectations of ever having a life like Rachel.

If this "DRUG" was legal as it should be none of this would have happened.

I'm currently a police officer in a major Southern California city. The area I cover is one of the worst in the state, with crimes including murder, shootings, stabbings, battery, robbery, burglary, vehicle theft, etc. These things happen on a daily basis. In addition to these crimes, this particular area is heavily inundated with drug users, street-level drug sellers, major drug traffickers, and cartel henchmen. I routinely work in an undercover capacity, and OFTEN utilize confidential informants to make controlled buys and sales of narcotics, weapons, and other contraband. These informants have assisted us in thousands of successful prosecutions of violent criminal offenders like the two suspects portrayed in this special.

After watching Dateline, and after reading some of the posts on Mr. Hansen's blog, I felt it necessary to offer some possible insight. I was hoping against hope that Detective Pender or some of the other involved Officers would share their side, but I knew with the case still ongoing, there was no chance of that.

Several things struck me about this episode that may not have meant anything to a non-police officer. I think it will be easier to list them:

1). No mention was ever made by MSNBC or Ms. Portman (The Talahassee Democrat reporter) about the lengthy sign-up process an informant must go through in order to work for the police department in this capacity. First and foremost, I want to stress that it is COMPLETELY VOLUNTARY. The idea that a police officer can force or coerce any given person into becoming an informant is almost laughable. There is a background check, multiple waiver forms, address verification, and fingerprint and DMV check, among other things. All of this is subject to review by the command staff, and ultimately approved by either a Lieutenant, Captain, or Commander. I've had many more informant applicants turned down than approved.

During this process, specifically the waiver form documentation, it is made clear to the aspiring informant that buying/selling drugs is a dangerous activity, and that while all efforts will be made to protect them from harm, the police department makes NO GUARANTEE of their safety. So Bowser's previous comment that "the police assumed an unconditional obligation to completely protect her" is simply an ignorant one, obviously completely baseless. By all accounts, Rachel seemed to be an intelligent young woman, and obviously knew the dangers of drug dealing. Knowing this, however, she decided to VOLUNTARILY show up at the police station and sign herself up.

2) This next portion is the most interesting to me. MSNBC portrayed this drug bust as set up completely by the police. It seemed as though Detective Pender and the other officers orchestrated this grandiose sting and simply inserted Rachel into the scenario. They made it seem that Rachel was in over her head the entire time, and that by putting her in that scenario, they ultimately got her killed. But something Hansen said on the special tells me something to the contrary. His quote was this:

"The targets of the bust were two men in their twenties RACHEL HAD MET THROUGH A FRIEND, but who knew very little about them. The police didn't seem to know much about them either."

As a police officer, this statement tells me exactly what happened. How could the police set up a drug bust with two suspects they apparently knew little about? How would they have their cell phone numbers or other contact means in order to set this up? Was it coincidence that Rachel had already met these two suspects? Or is it more likely she knew these two because she had previoulsy purchased narcotics from them before? I can almost guess exactly how it happened, because it happens like this ALL THE TIME:

- Police serve a search warrant at Rachel's house and find her in possession of large amounts of marijuana and ecstacy.

- Pender asks Rachel either who she buys her stuff from or if she knows who else will sell narcotics to her. In response, RACHEL TELLS PENDER SHE KNOWS THESE TWO GUYS IN THEIR TWENTIES THAT SHE JUST MET WHO WILL SELL HER ECSTACY. Taking it one step further, this is likely where her ecstacy pills came from, either directly or indirectly.

- Pender asks Rachel if she would be willing to work with the police and have her case dismissed as a result. Rachel, whatever her reasons, decides to take the deal.

The fact of the matter is Rachel set up this deal. Rachel chose the targets, not Pender. Rachel obviously felt it was within her power to successfully deal with these two, and convinced Pender and the other Detectives it would be a good case for her to perform in order to work off her case. This idea that Pender set up this situation and put Rachel in over her head is absurd...undercover narcotics work just doesn't work like that, and the facts presented by MSNBC certainly point to the contrary.

3) Portman commented that "$13000 was an unprecendented amount of money for a drug bust in this town." Not really. When you consider Portman made mention of a DEA agent being involved in the deal, and we assume that's the case, it's absolutely not a far fetched idea. Federal agencies such as the DEA, ATF, and ICE have access to far greater sums of money than local agencies do, and routinely do bigger deals than the one covered in this report. As a result, local agencies will often enlist the help of federal agencies in order to utilize their money supply. $13000 may sound like a lot of money to a reporter, but in reality, when the feds get involved, its peanuts.

4) Rules are set forth by the police for informants' protection, and Rachel didn't follow directions. Did you notice that the original deal location was supposed to be a crowded park? What do you think the reason for that was? Is it possibly because the police would have several undercover positions of advantage in order to observe and ultimately defend Rachel if things went sideways? Don't you think it's likely they already had police observers set up at the park even before Rachel arrived? Don't you think Pender was sweating bullets when Rachel pulled out of the park and continued north on the interstate without any instructions to do so? She didn't answer her cell phone after repeated calls from Pender, and decided to change to deal location without getting the OK from him first? So she ends up changing the deal to a remote location, with no people around, without the Detectives' autorization, and with $13000 in cash? When it came to this part of the special, I knew immediately what was going to happen, and I guarantee Pender saw the writing on the wall , as well. Unfortunately, Rachel's fate was ultimately sealed by her own disregard for the safety rules.

This was a terrible incident, and as a parent, I certainly feel a great deal of sadness for Rachel's parents. The thought of losing a child is almost unbearable to think about. But their anger is wrongly directed at the police. I'm sure there are tactical issues in need of addressing that will arise from this investigation...there always are. But that doesn't mean the police were necessarily negligent. Time and investigation will tell.

The main issue for me arises from Hansen and MSNBC. This was a very one sided portrayal of a very sad, very complicated issue. They left no possibility of any type of reasonable explanation, and they very clearly laid the groundwork for the police to assume all blame. Even the police "expert" that interviewed near the end of the special was ready to crucify the officers and the department. I could almost see the chip on his shoulder. This was a biased account, to say the least. It portrayed the police as incompetent and indifferent, and Rachel as a model citizen not knowing what she was getting herself into. I'm sad to say it, but this type of journalism has become all too common at MSNBC.

I'm currently a police officer in a major Southern California city. The area I cover is one of the worst in the state, with crimes including murder, shootings, stabbings, battery, robbery, burglary, vehicle theft, etc. These things happen on a daily basis. In addition to these crimes, this particular area is heavily inundated with drug users, street-level drug sellers, major drug traffickers, and cartel henchmen. I routinely work in an undercover capacity, and OFTEN utilize confidential informants to make controlled buys and sales of narcotics, weapons, and other contraband. These informants have assisted us in thousands of successful prosecutions of violent criminal offenders like the two suspects portrayed in this special.

After watching Dateline, and after reading some of the posts on Mr. Hansen's blog, I felt it necessary to offer some possible insight. I was hoping against hope that Detective Pender or some of the other involved Officers would share their side, but I knew with the case still ongoing, there was no chance of that.

Several things struck me about this episode that may not have meant anything to a non-police officer. I think it will be easier to list them:

1). No mention was ever made by MSNBC or Ms. Portman (The Talahassee Democrat reporter) about the lengthy sign-up process an informant must go through in order to work for the police department in this capacity. First and foremost, I want to stress that it is COMPLETELY VOLUNTARY. The idea that a police officer can force or coerce any given person into becoming an informant is almost laughable. There is a background check, multiple waiver forms, address verification, and fingerprint and DMV check, among other things. All of this is subject to review by the command staff, and ultimately approved by either a Lieutenant, Captain, or Commander. I've had many more informant applicants turned down than approved.

During this process, specifically the waiver form documentation, it is made clear to the aspiring informant that buying/selling drugs is a dangerous activity, and that while all efforts will be made to protect them from harm, the police department makes NO GUARANTEE of their safety. So Bowser's previous comment that "the police assumed an unconditional obligation to completely protect her" is simply an ignorant one, obviously completely baseless. By all accounts, Rachel seemed to be an intelligent young woman, and obviously knew the dangers of drug dealing. Knowing this, however, she decided to VOLUNTARILY show up at the police station and sign herself up.

2) This next portion is the most interesting to me. MSNBC portrayed this drug bust as set up completely by the police. It seemed as though Detective Pender and the other officers orchestrated this grandiose sting and simply inserted Rachel into the scenario. They made it seem that Rachel was in over her head the entire time, and that by putting her in that scenario, they ultimately got her killed. But something Hansen said on the special tells me something to the contrary. His quote was this:

"The targets of the bust were two men in their twenties RACHEL HAD MET THROUGH A FRIEND, but who knew very little about them. The police didn't seem to know much about them either."

As a police officer, this statement tells me exactly what happened. How could the police set up a drug bust with two suspects they apparently knew little about? How would they have their cell phone numbers or other contact means in order to set this up? Was it coincidence that Rachel had already met these two suspects? Or is it more likely she knew these two because she had previoulsy purchased narcotics from them before? I can almost guess exactly how it happened, because it happens like this ALL THE TIME:

- Police serve a search warrant at Rachel's house and find her in possession of large amounts of marijuana and ecstacy.

- Pender asks Rachel either who she buys her stuff from or if she knows who else will sell narcotics to her. In response, RACHEL TELLS PENDER SHE KNOWS THESE TWO GUYS IN THEIR TWENTIES THAT SHE JUST MET WHO WILL SELL HER ECSTACY. Taking it one step further, this is likely where her ecstacy pills came from, either directly or indirectly.

- Pender asks Rachel if she would be willing to work with the police and have her case dismissed as a result. Rachel, whatever her reasons, decides to take the deal.

The fact of the matter is Rachel set up this deal. Rachel chose the targets, not Pender. Rachel obviously felt it was within her power to successfully deal with these two, and convinced Pender and the other Detectives it would be a good case for her to perform in order to work off her case. This idea that Pender set up this situation and put Rachel in over her head is absurd...undercover narcotics work just doesn't work like that, and the facts presented by MSNBC certainly point to the contrary.

3) Portman commented that "$13000 was an unprecendented amount of money for a drug bust in this town." Not really. When you consider Portman made mention of a DEA agent being involved in the deal, and we assume that's the case, it's absolutely not a far fetched idea. Federal agencies such as the DEA, ATF, and ICE have access to far greater sums of money than local agencies do, and routinely do bigger deals than the one covered in this report. As a result, local agencies will often enlist the help of federal agencies in order to utilize their money supply. $13000 may sound like a lot of money to a reporter, but in reality, when the feds get involved, its peanuts.

4) Rules are set forth by the police for informants' protection, and Rachel didn't follow directions. Did you notice that the original deal location was supposed to be a crowded park? What do you think the reason for that was? Is it possibly because the police would have several undercover positions of advantage in order to observe and ultimately defend Rachel if things went sideways? Don't you think it's likely they already had police observers set up at the park even before Rachel arrived? Don't you think Pender was sweating bullets when Rachel pulled out of the park and continued north on the interstate without any instructions to do so? She didn't answer her cell phone after repeated calls from Pender, and decided to change to deal location without getting the OK from him first? So she ends up changing the deal to a remote location, with no people around, without the Detectives' autorization, and with $13000 in cash? When it came to this part of the special, I knew immediately what was going to happen, and I guarantee Pender saw the writing on the wall , as well. Unfortunately, Rachel's fate was ultimately sealed by her own disregard for the safety rules.

This was a terrible incident, and as a parent, I certainly feel a great deal of sadness for Rachel's parents. The thought of losing a child is almost unbearable to think about. But their anger is wrongly directed at the police. I'm sure there are tactical issues in need of addressing that will arise from this investigation...there always are. But that doesn't mean the police were necessarily negligent. Time and investigation will tell.

The main issue for me arises from Hansen and MSNBC. This was a very one sided portrayal of a very sad, very complicated issue. They left no possibility of any type of reasonable explanation, and they very clearly laid the groundwork for the police to assume all blame. Even the police "expert" that interviewed near the end of the special was ready to crucify the officers and the department. I could almost see the chip on his shoulder. This was a biased account, to say the least. It portrayed the police as incompetent and indifferent, and Rachel as a model citizen not knowing what she was getting herself into. I'm sad to say it, but this type of journalism has become all too common at MSNBC.

Did you not see the states attorney admitt that standard procedure wasnt followed by the police department. Do you really think that you guys follow the rules, hell know half of the police officers are corrupt and breaking the law. You guys really are scum

Although she was in the prediciment by the result of her own poor decisions, it doesn't absolve the agency from conducting an operation that is safe.

It was stressed a couple of times that she had no law enforcement training, so that responsibility falls on the case agent. In briefing it should have been emphasised repeatedly, "at no time do you leave the buy area". We don't know what took place in the briefing, as the report didn't go into that.

Most glaringly, she shouldn't have carried $13,000 dollars to a buy involving two individuals that she had made no prior, smaller purcahses from. At the very least they should have had a UC in another car with the buy money. Show me the dope, and I'll call may friend with the cash. Don't like that arrangement, CYA.

I would be interested in a follow up report to see what a civil jury finds in this matter, and what policies were ignored. Obviously the administration had to have something to hang their hat on if they were able to fire the case agent.

To User 167,

Unfortunately, your naivete is showing through. Are informants supposed to have "law enforcement training?" Is that how you understand the procedures concerning informants? What would you like to see? Would you like us to take each informant out to the academy and teach them arrest techniques, firearm proficiency, self-defense, etc? THAT"S NOT THEIR JOB, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, THAT"S NOT OUR JOB. Their job is to purchase narcotics and bring them back to us.....that's it. There is no mythical "law enforcement training" that they need/should receive. They're already doing what they know how to do....buy drugs.

You said, "In briefing it should have been emphasised repeatedly, "at no time do you leave the buy area". We don't know what took place in the briefing, as the report didn't go into that." That's correct, we don't know what happened in the briefing, but I GUARANTEE Rachel was told not to change the plans without authorization prior to the operation, kind of like when she was told not to have anything to to with marijuana the first time she was arrested for it. Obviously, her ability to follow directions left something to be desired...

I can certainly agree that the money could have been with another UC. That's possibly one of those tactical issues I was talking about in my previous post that will arise from this investigation, and may be a big reason why Pender was fired and the states attorney came down on the department. Who knows....had the detectives done it that way, maybe Rachel would still be alive.

However, I love your observation that, "Most glaringly, she shouldn't have carried $13,000 dollars to a buy involving two individuals that she had made no prior, smaller purcahses from." Do you honestly believe she had never made any small, previous purchases from these two? You think she just chose two random guys to tell Pender about? No way....she either bought from these guys before, or had friends that bought from them. Either way, she felt she knew them well enough to make this happen.

Administrations don't always need something concrete to fire a a police officer. It happens all the time where a police department will fire someone, and then the civil service commission will give their jobs back to them after a review of the circumstances. Sometimes, it's just a knee-jerk reaction to avoid the political fallout.

All I'm saying is sometimes things aren't what they seem....especially in complicated police investigations and ESPECIALLY when MSNBC reports on them.

Oh, by the way...grow up, JUSB.

I think the police department made a wrong choice. Because a gun was involved and to give such a large amount of money to a young girl to meet two big bad boys.

I think because she was buying a gun, and the money amount were the mistake here.

I feel that the 2 guys knew she was an informant--they smelled it--like we smell cops -and a young girl like her with all that money . I also feel that one cop should have been in her car ( like the trunk or something in hiding or an SUV ) I also feel she should of had a few cell phones and extra sensory walkie talkies or something

The killers knew that where she drove to ( cell phones didn't work) thats what they wanted. The police department and Rachael were solely operating from the ego and they lost site of the whole human being thing here--they were so ego driver, she and the cops and the criminals that all feeling was lost and shut out--so intution and perception were low and things could not be detected from ones inner voice so therefore neither she or the detective had their own radars on which is important in detective work. I also feel that the police department should give these informant types a class- psychotherapy analyzation and counseling and so on because these informants sometimes are not all there emotionally either and are desparate to get off and so how can they not make a mistake in a sting...

This is currently happening to my son. He failed a drug screen (not selling)while on probation and the local police forced him to be an informant. They told him if he didn't do it they would see to it he got the maximum jail time and he would "be somebody’s @!$%#". My son agreed and after months of working with them, putting himself in that environment, he was accused by the drug dealer as being a NARC and they made him prove he wasn't wearing a wire. He was afraid for his life. The police said he had to go back , this time with a wire, and get information. Our son was in such turmoil over this the had several seizures and his drivers license revoked (he has a history of stress related seizures), he finally came to us for help. We do not know who to turn to but we did tell him not to participate. So this time he refused. They are making him go back to court this Wednesday for violation of probation even though he worked with them for months. As parents we had no idea he was working with the police. It was so stressful thinking he was still in that lifestyle, late nights and shady people, we were sick about it. His story very easily could have ended like Rachel Hoffman’s. I am so sad for her parents. We need any help of advice that anyone may have. Since our son stopped working with the police he has done well. Going to school, community service, etc. To put him back in jail would be such a setback.

You are an ass. Only an attorney would speak in generalities and draw conclusions with no facts. Well done.

You have got to be kidding me!

In this case the police were dogs too.

Mmmm, no, not really.

I don't understand why people are being so sympathetic towards an ecstacy/pot dealer.    She was ruining other people's lives and it came back to bite her in the ass.

you must have been watching a different show. Sorry you aren't of a journalist.

You are absolutely right. Your points are well-taken.

As a current law enforcement officer who has worked undercover, I can tell you with confidence my agency would not have made that deal. However, I also must say that drug units and police officers everywhere are guilty of using informants in a way that could compromise their safety and lives. This is a sad story. I really hope that it causes everyone to stop and think, because with a few modifications to the story, any of us could be in TPD's shoes.

Sorry LM,   Dateline failed to report that she also was arrested for conspiracy to sell ecstacy.  Do your research.

Rocky has it right, if the person who died was some 21 year old black guy working at best buy and selling weed on the side this story would not have been picked up. Instead they got all these pics from her facebook and myspace and made it into a story.

firsts things first are president is black, give up on that it woulnt be on their if he was black! her family cared about there daughter an contacted them, if a black man or woman died that way they should also push the issue.  im black an im so tired of ignorant people like u feeling sorry for themselves! that girl should most defintly not worked for those pigs,but thats not okay to not be rt behind her protecting her!

First of all they did say that on dateline....second of all the whole point of the story was the sting! Her past was not hindering her in the sting which lead to her death if anything her inexperience in the drug world hurt her in dealing with hard criminals. So please tell me why you are so consumed in her drug dealing?

The Police were definetly responsible for her death. It should have never gotten to that point, hopefully this story will help people who consider doing CI work....lets just let the police do their job!

i am a person of color too, there is alot about this case that you don't know like how she was arrested the frist time put on probatoin and the way she got around the drug testing was by using the wizzonator its a fake male organ... anything scream criminal here??

criminal. college kids know how to pass a pizz test.. yeah that's sooooo criminal.. geesh!

it shows she had criminal intent to break drug laws, did you know that this was her second try at getting a bust, because the first one was suppose to deal with a friend of her and she alerted him at the last min so the deal never went down.  The two guys she met knew she was a dealer, and wanted to sell her some X but, she turned it down.  So to make up for the botched bust she told tpd about these guys at a car was she met.  This girl was involed with the drug trade when she should not have been.

That's right, but does that give the cops a right to use her as a pawn and lose her in the fray? They lost sight of their operative, tell me that cops do that to each other in the field and I'll sell you some swamp land in florida! She died because they screwed up big time! 

No they should not have lost sight of her because they had a DEA drug plane in the air to observe the whole Op, they made a mistake in communication.  But the Two men who killed her are the ones to blame not TPD.

They are spinning it this way because no matter how you feel about her lifestyle, the Police sent her with $13,000 cash to buy huge amounts of drugs she didn't even sell, and a firearm! I don't care how you feel about her pot smoking, the cops sacrificed her because they thought they were going home heroes that night  for busting two coke/ecstacy/gun dealers...nothing she did warranted what she was coerced into doing

How in the hell was she ruining people's lives ?  You might make a case that drug users are ruining their lives but she's not forcing them to do drugs.  I don't think doing pot occasionally is going to ruin your life either.   Selling drugs to your friends is no big deal.  If I were a cop I wouldn't feel any satisfaction about busting someone for pot.

you people have to be kidding me.  Instead of passing judgment on some poor girl you don't even know you should probably be making sure your kids aren't out smoking pot.  Trust me some of them are!

Seems to me you have a very racist point of view......

Mshack I have to agree with you. From the very beginning of the story, this girl was described as a spoiled, and irresponsible party girl. The thing that bothered me a lot was how her friends thought it was perfectly O.K. for her to "cheat" on her weekly drug tests, and not accept any responsibility for anything. From what I saw, she did NOT follow instructions in the STING any more than she followed the laws that got her in this mess. I would be really sad if this was my daughter, and but I do believe she controlled her own fate. I also felt that the Police were not given a fair shake, and from the 1st minute of the show, I KNEW there wold be a stinking lawsuit by the parents.

It bothers me how many people think this young lady was acting like a little princess. I dont think she was.

People who truly believe that Prohibition is a good thing, and that people who smoke pot are criminals who deserve to die;  these people truly have no soul, nor any ability to feel compassion for a human being.

nice to see people don't take Chris's story has he edited it to play out

it did say that she was busted for ex pills. listen more careful nexttime!

Rocky if you would have pulled your head out of agents lap then you could have heard the story.

It said she had 4. Since there is more than one they can just say she was going to sell them.

Tell her to get a lawyer and take the charges, they won't stop using her.

Ask her if the police told her to go and tell people that she is a CI, I am sure that is the first rule they give them, and if they do tell people then that will call off the whole thing and will be charged with the crimes...

Finally, the two hundred million dollar question....  Who didn't know she was a informant?  All of her friends did.  Could this have played a part in her death.  She partly to blame there.

Her first mistake was telling you she is working as a informant.  If she told you, then she probally told someone else.  If anyone is putting her life in danger it is her for telling you.

But the police department knew that she had told friends and they did not close the deal they let her continue to CI. Oh know they didnt break the rules..... hell yeah they did and they should be punished.

The whole IF SHE WAS BLACK THING is so stupid.  What if she was chinese, portugese, cuban, or mexican.  Yeah, I definitely believe the reason this story aired is because she was Jewish, white and female.  If she were a black male and this happened, it would be on CNN daily with Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and the NAACP... Maybe that's what would happen if she were a young black male.  You are trying to make a race issue out of an obvious police blunder...

Do you think Chris would have wrote about a dubie in the summer of 1979... if this was some black kid shot and killed in a drug deal gone bad?  No he wouldn't and sorry to say Jesse Jackson and Al sharpton would not touch it with a ten footpole cause they are worried about getting a meeting with obama in order to advance there own issues.

It was not just any drug deal gone bad!!!! It was a police-sponsored buy-bust drug sting overseen by professional law enforcement!!!!  Big difference between a drug deal gone wrong in an alley where someone gets shot and the story here. 

I never said the agencies that were running this op were not also to blame but, it is those to that killed her that are the ones to blame for her death not the police.

Always has to do with race we arent years back we have a non white president for crying outloud,please those days are gone &people like yourself just tryto keep the racism going,how sad.,that we cant enjoy other cultures or our 1st black pres. because of people like youstill wanting to stir @!$%# that doesnt need stirred.

Thank you, I agree wholeheartedly.

Agreed!

+1!

Do you drink alcohol? Because if you do, you are doing drugs. And it's also A LOT worse for your mind and body than marijuana. I've never done anything but marijuana and alcohol, and I know the difference from personal experience. You have no idea what you are talking about, keep poisoning your liver.

And if for some reason you don't drink, the overall point is that pot is safer than alcohol and it should be legal.

Just because it is a problem that you never struggled with doesn't give you the right to call someone who does drugs a bad person! There are many good people who fall in moments of weakness who use drugs to cope with issues... we are all human and nobody is perfect so please have a little compassion.

You say you would give your kids no slack on this issue.  Would you call the police and tell them you found a baggie of weed in your son/daughter's sock drawer?  If you wouldn't which I honestly hope, you are a hypocrite.  If you would call the police to rat on your child, you are a moron...

If your coping with ISSUES, Try God instead of drugs.  Quit hiding behind the fact of daddy and mommy didn't hug me enough so I'm going to do drugs.  Need a drug get high on GOD.  Grow up

I understand what you're saying and it's apparant you or your children have never had any issues with drugs and or the local police here in Tallahassee.  As a Mom of a child who did begin experimenting with drugs after being raped @ 14 I can tell you watching that program last night broke my heart for Rachael's parents.  Did you hear the part about the amount of pot she was originally arrested for when she was pulled over for a traffic violation was less than xxx amount, point being FLORIDA is the only state that the amount is a felony charge.  My own daughter has been in the system for several years trying to escape it, but it's near impossible to get out from under the clutches of DOC once you do anything minor, the system here in Tally is very difficult and extremely unorganized (i.e., the right hand doesn't know what the left is doing).  I feel Rachael was lead to believe she was going prison, she was ashamed of her behavior (not the feelings of a hardened criminal) and wanted to handle it without her parents knowing, the police definitely took advantage of her and scared her to death.   They are responsilble 100% for putting her in a dangerous situation, she had no real choice here but to do ask they told her.  I hope you never have to understand this horribly wrong "good ole boy" system here in Tally and I hope Rachaels parents win this lawsuit to promote change within the system, who said they are asking for money?  There needs to be clear cut laws regarding using CIs.  And as far as the comments regarding if this were a young black man this wouldn't be aired, unfortuanely its everyday in our country that a young black man is either killed committing or victim of a crime, we all know this is no longer "news".  The reason they chose to air this is whether you like it or not, she, Rachael wasn't your everyday drug dealer/criminal.

"It is never acceptable to do drugs - EVER.  You are not a good person when you deal and do drugs. "

Your statements demonstrate the evil quality of your character. I put drug users/dealers in a higher caliber.

You are not a good person when you have no compassion for your fellow human being.

Adavenport3

Who are you to judge. All sins are equal. SO I GUESS YOU HAVE NEVER SINNED. you suck

1: Alcohol was elegal from 1919 to 1933 during Prohibition.

2: Alcohol IS a DRUG! If you have ever drank you have tried an elegal drug! The goverment made it legal to make more money from it.

3: There are more alcohol related deaths than any other DRUG out there!

4: Our goverment says drugs are bad. There is nothing in the bible about it being a sin and they have been used throughout history openly.

5: It does not make her a BAD person just because she sold/smoked pot. Who are you to judge? Only god has the right to judge.

Then live in Holland.  The law is the law.  This "sweet" girl used a device to fake a drug test, but then her friends claim she wasn't addicted.  Let's be honest with ourselves here.

If smoking pot doesn't hurt anyone, how come people are twice as likely to be involved in a FATAL car crash after smoking pot?  Or that it is the second most common drug found in the blood after fatal accidents, next to alcohol?

Alcohol is a drug too, and it's devistating statistics show it is.  Just because one is legal, and one is not, does not make it okay for marijuana to be used.  Rather, it makes the case for alcohol to be illegal.

Yeah nice statistics there seriously about the second most common drug in FATAL accidents.  Be sure to post a link on that stat...  Smoking pot before driving is no more dangerous than driving after a poor night of sleep or talking on a cellphone while driving.  Most people who are driving after they smoked weed are in the right lane going 5 miles below the speed limit looking for a Mickey D's drive-thru... VERY DANGEROUS STUFF

Kinda agree that if you want to smoke pot, move........  I also guess what you saying that it should be OK to abduct a girl and kill her too.  A law is a Law.  Face it break the law, go to jail.

Plenty of places to smoke cannabis legally here in the U.S. with the medical cannabis laws in effect. One of the points of the story was mentioned at the beginning if go back and review the video link, that being, Florida has the harshest penalty (felony) for the amount she was originally caught with. The main underlying message is that the so-called drug war has failed miserably and now people's lives are now forfeit because of some good ole' boy politics. You can't legislate morality (Bush said the same thing on the same issue about the legality of cannabis, but failed to live up to his word during his two terms), people are going to continue to use cannabis. As far as substances that people use, it is by far the least artificial or needing to be tampered with. Alcohol and cigarettes are both "legal" and ruin far many more lives and cause many more fatalities than cannabis ever has!

Just because something is ILLEGAL doesn't make it IMMORAL.

She was not convicted. 

Okay, but why would she volunteer to do this?  She knew she would be.  Be serious here.

Because she was hoping to get out of trouble and her parents not finding out. Seriously, she didn't let her parents know she was in trouble again, she kept it to herself, HOPING, it would go away... she was young. 

she set up the deal with these guys as they tryed to sell her stuff at a carwash before, the police should have planned more but they did many things right but she did even more things wrong

She was a college student, not a detective, drug agent or a cop of any kind, of course she did things wrong.. They shouldn't have done anything wrong.. especially letting her out of their line of sight and allowing her to be alone with these guys for one second, they did, now she's dead!

So if it was a detective that was killed then, that would be OK with you? Many cops die every year like Dale Green in Tallahassee shot by a scum bag drug dealer, but they go out there and try to make a dent in Crime so that you can feel at ease when walking out of walmart that you will not be caught in a drug shoot out.  So she was a low level dealer that got caught did that stop her from dealing no... why not??? because of the criminal intent she had in her mind, she did everything she could to continue her life style.  Tallahassee has a huge drug problem because of people like this that seem they would have nothing to do with drugs but, they are the ones cause the problem.  Drug dealers beware crime does not pay,

Were these guys even drug dealers? It stated there was never any drugs involved. Sounds more like these guys were robers more than drug dealers. Have you ever been bullyed? I am sure the police bullyed the girl into turning people in and then gained her trust that they had her back and everything would be okay. It says there was no lawyer present. I beleave any person should have the presents of a lawyer before the police can bully them into anything!

do you actually hear your self    come on  

When I was a 23 year old GIRL just out of college, I trusted authority figures with no question as well. Her phone and mic had no signal, so probably didn't hear the instructions to turn around. They cops should have NEVER let this young GIRL NEAR those violent criminals with no heart...Kind of like MShack....hmmm

I wonder...can anyone on here have an intelligent discussion without resorting to calling people names?  I guess I misunderstood what this forum was supposed to be about.

mshack, go and smoke one and you want be so depressing .FAG

Come on admit that you just wrote what you heard on TV to night.  Naive?  How can you be NAIVE, if you selling Marijuana to make ends meet.  Sounds to me like Rachel knew exactlt how to play the system.  All NAIVE people know how to shove a wizzinator to pass a UA.  Give me break.   

CCRT you are lame... What do you know?  You can't even type logical sentences...  Which police department do you work for? 

She was selling ecstacy too.  Is that OK?  When you make stupid decisions, there are horrible consequences.

I think you are right only a cop would think this was right!! She was put out there to die!! selling pot and trying to buy 13,000.00 in drugs who can not see there is a big change here!!This girl had never sold 1300.00 in drugs and  mshack thinks she was some big time drug dealer. It is just sad and heartbreaking 23 and die for what??? If it were his girl bet he would feel like the cops did do something wrong!!

Rocky, i guess your mom having a kid was a stupid decision. Because not only are you horrible but you suck at life and know nothing about reality. Move the rock from your head.

When will you people realize there is no "slant" on this story. Yes she broke the law, but it's the responsibility of the police to decide who they put in this kind of situation.

You don't send someone like her to buy a gun from two violent criminals with $13k.

If the police promise a CI security and the CI is harmed or KILLED, then the police were negligent. Case closed.  The Grand Jury who was more deeply informed on the case than any of us on this blog clearly confirmed that TPD was negligent on the entire planning, execution, and follow-up of the sting.  TPD got it wrong.  NO slant, just facts/details about the situation.  The only slant is in your head.  If I were a mechanic and you brought me your car to fix, then I told you it was fixed and guaranteed you would have no more problems with it and charged you $5000, but then a mile down the road your engine locks up and shuts down, what would you think then?  Is it your fault for bringing your car to me? -OR- Is it my fault for telling you the car fixed and you should have no worries about operating your vehicle?  Do you see the similarities? 

Then who do the cops send David H.  You?  No you send someone inwho knows the people your dealing with.  I 'm sure it wasn't the perfect situation, but face it.  How did Rachel come to know these people.  Pull their names out of phone book?  No, she probally developed them from past aquaintances of past dealers she bought from. 

I think TPD was partly a fault, but not totally.

How naive was she if she could calculate drug prices in her head?  Just wondering.

You get a clue: she put herself in this situation.  If she never smoked pot, there's no story.

Calculating makes her math smart, not street smart.. geesh dude!

how did TPD know these guys were willing to deal? cause the frist person she offered to flip on, she backed out at the last min called her friend she was about to deal with that she was a CI, the police should have remanded her ass back to jail for that

They did not keep her in full view because they were unaware that she had changed course and was going to a different meeting spot.  By the time she communicated that to them, it was too late and she was already there.  Were they supposed to teleport themselves there to save her?  This went down within minutes.  We do not live in a rubber-bumper world.  Things happen.

He had her in their view at the park, how did he lose her? Remember, he told her she took the wrong turn, then she came out he stopped traffic to let her out then she just 'disappeared', Come on seriously...

I totally agree 100%

And when he stopped traffic to let her out did he not follow her He just lost her u must be there kind lie ur way out cause u wear a badge u right @!$%# happens & u all arent the God's u think u are not everyone is going to bow down to u useless asses but to the ones who really want the job as cop,dea, etc. & do the job right I thank you to the ones who dont I have total disrespect for u & ur day will come when God has his judgement day I'd  like to be a mouse on the wall to see all the dumbies get whats due to them!