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Confidential Informant Protections

December 17th, 2015 by flanews

Police departments around Florida often get criminals busted for drugs to cut deals and go undercover. They’re known as Confidential Informants or C-I’s. As Matt Galka tells us, the attorney who represented a high profile death of a confidential informant in 2008 says there needs to be stronger protections for people going undercover.

23 year old Rachel Hoffman was busted for marijuana and pills and agreed to go undercover for the Tallahassee police in exchange for leniency on her charge.  She was a confidential informant or CI…but was murdered during a botched sting operation in 2008.  Her case inspired Rachel’s Law which reformed Confidential Informant guidelines.  But 7 years later, if you were to ask how many confidential informants there are in Florida, you wouldn’t get an answer.

Lance Block represented the Hoffman family during a successful lawsuit after Rachel’s death.  He says the law needs to be strengthened.

“We don’t know how many deaths have resulted in deals gone wrong or retaliation,” he said.

Block wants to revive a bill that would require the FDLE to keep data on CI’s around the state.

The bill would also let people consult a lawyer before agreeing to a deal.

“99.9% of defense attorney’s would advise against it if they spoke with a client,” said Block.

State Attorney Willie Meggs says that discretion needs to be used in CI cases, but it’s a necessary program for getting bad guys off the streets.

“I don’t think you could work, legitimately work, drug enforcement or the intelligence we so desperately need without the use of CIs,” said Meggs.

Block says that without data, there isn’t really anything to point to in order to show just how effective confidential informants are. A bill has yet to be filed for 2016 and died in committees last year.

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