HB 1535

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 compensate
5	Irving Hoffman and Marjorie Weiss, individually and as co-
6	personal representatives of the Estate of Rachel Hoffman,
7	for the wrongful death of Rachel Hoffman, which was
8	allegedly due to the negligence of the Tallahassee Police
9	Department; providing a limitation on the payment of fees
10	and costs; providing an effective date.
11
12	WHEREAS, Rachel Hoffman was the only child of Irving
13	Hoffman and Marjorie Weiss, and
14	WHEREAS, Rachel Hoffman was 23 years old, a recent graduate
15	of Florida State University, and living in Tallahassee, Florida,
16	and
17	WHEREAS, Rachel Hoffman was in a drug court intervention
18	program and represented by counsel, and
19	WHEREAS, on April 17, 2008, the Tallahassee Police
20	Department conducted a search of Rachel Hoffman's apartment and
21	found approximately 70 grams of marijuana and six nonprescribed
22	pills and at that time advised her that she was facing serious
23	felony charges and prison time of 1 to 4 years or that she could
24	"make all of the charges go away," by serving as a confidential
25	informant, and
26	WHEREAS, Rachel agreed to become a confidential drug
27	informant for the Tallahassee Police Department without advice
28	of counsel because she was told not to 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 Tallahassee
36	Police Department's confidential informant program because such
37	participation would violate the terms of the drug court
38	contract, and
39	WHEREAS, the Tallahassee Police Department developed a plan
40	whereby Rachel Hoffman would purchase 1,500 MDMA pills, also
41	known as ecstasy, 3 ounces of cocaine, and a weapon from Andrea
42	Green and Daneilo Bradshaw whom Rachel Hoffman did not have any
43	previous contact or dealings with, and
44	WHEREAS, Rachel Hoffman had never purchased cocaine, did
45	not have a history of dealing in cocaine, and did not have any
46	experience with a weapon, and
47	WHEREAS, Forest Meadows Park is a popular, highly
48	frequented public park where families and children congregate,
49	and
50	WHEREAS, as Rachel Hoffman approached Forest Meadows Park
51	in her vehicle at approximately 6:40 p.m. on the evening of May
52	7, 2008, Andrea Green and Daneilo Bradshaw changed the meeting
53	location from the park to a nearby plant nursery parking lot
54	north of the park on Meridian Road, and
55	WHEREAS, the meeting location was changed again, reportedly
56	to the dead end at Gardner Road, a remote location further north
57	on Meridian Road, and
58	WHEREAS, the Tallahassee Police Department knew within 5
59	minutes that the meeting location had twice been changed from
60	the designated location by Andrea Green and Daneilo Bradshaw,
61	and
62	WHERAS, after learning that Rachel Hoffman was driving to
63	meet Green and Bradshaw at the dead end at Gardner Road, the
64	Tallahassee Police Department lost visual sight and all
65	communication with Rachel Hoffman and did not go to the location
66	to make the arrests or immediately intervene on behalf of its
67	confidential informant even though the surveillance team was
68	only a short distance from the Gardner Road location, and
69	WHEREAS, by the time law enforcement personnel arrived at
70	the Gardner Road location, Rachel Hoffman, Andrea Green, and
71	Daneilo Bradshaw were all gone, and the only recorded evidence
72	were one flip-flop sandal, two live .25 caliber rounds of
73	ammunition, one spent .25 caliber round of ammunition, and tire
74	marks, and
75	WHEREAS, hours later Rachel Hoffman's cell phone was found
76	in a ditch miles away from the Gardner Road location, and
77	WHEREAS, at approximately 2 a.m. on May 8, 2008, Sgt. Odom
78	of the Tallahassee Police Department called Marjorie Weiss, the
79	mother of Rachel Hoffman, and Irving Hoffman, the father, and
80	advised them that their daughter was missing, but he did not
81	provide any further information, and
82	WHEREAS, when Irving Hoffman and Marjorie Weiss arrived
83	later that afternoon at the Tallahassee police station after
84	driving from their homes in Pinellas County, Florida, they were
85	met by the Chief of the Tallahassee Police Department and other
86	city officials and told simply that their daughter was missing
87	but that there was not any other information available regarding
88	the reason their daughter was missing, and
89	WHEREAS, it was not until 2 days later, on May 9, 2008,
90	that Rachel Hoffman's body was found near Perry, Florida,
91	approximately 50 miles away and was shot multiple times by the
92	gun the Tallahassee Police Department required her to purchase,
93	and
94	WHEREAS, upon the discovery of Rachel Hoffman's body, the
95	Chief and Public Information Officer of the Tallahassee Police
96	Department appeared before the media and blamed Rachel Hoffman
97	for her death, and while watching television, Irving Hoffman and
98	Marjorie Weiss learned for the first time that their daughter
99	had been missing and was killed while serving the Tallahassee
100	Police Department in an undercover capacity, and
101	WHEREAS, the Tallahassee Police Department committed
102	multiple acts of negligence in the recruitment of Rachel
103	Hoffman, the planning of the purchase of controlled substances
104	and a weapon by Rachel Hoffman, and the execution thereof, and
105	WHEREAS, on August 1, 2008, a Leon County grand jury found
106	the command staff of the  Tallahassee Police Department was
107	negligent in its supervision, review, and execution of the
108	planned purchase of controlled substances and a weapon, and
109	stated that it was "an unconscionable decision that cost Ms.
110	Hoffman her life," and
111	WHEREAS, Rachel Hoffman's death was a shocking and
112	devastating loss to her parents who are in states of
113	pathological grief over the death of their only child, NOW,
114	THEREFORE,
115
116	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
117
118	Section 1.  City of Tallahassee is authorized and directed
119	to appropriate from funds of the city not otherwise appropriated
120	and to draw a warrant in the sum of $      , payable to Irving
121	Hoffman and Marjorie Weiss, individually and as co-personal
122	representatives of the Estate of Rachel Hoffman, deceased, as
123	compensation for the death of their daughter, Rachel Hoffman.
124	Section 2.  This award is intended to provide the sole
125	compensation for all present and future claims arising out of
126	the factual situation described in this act which resulted in
127	the death of Rachel Hoffman. The total amount paid for
128	attorney's fees, lobbying fees, costs, and other similar
129	expenses relating to this claim may not exceed 25 percent of the
130	amount awarded under this act.
131	Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.