Former Clearwater police officer acquitted in sexual assault case

A jury late Friday found a former Clearwater police officer not guilty in the rape of a tourist in Clearwater Beach last October.

Nicolas Paloma was charged with sexual assault and bribery after police say he picked up an intoxicated woman in his police vehicle and forced her to perform sexual acts in the early hours of October 15, 2023. Paloma was later arrested and fired from the department.

The jury of five men and one woman deliberated for about an hour in Pinellas District Court, concluding its deliberations shortly before 7:30 p.m.

Paloma, 30, smiled and clenched his fist as he stood to leave the courtroom. In the hallway, he hugged his family members who had followed the four days of trial.

“Not guilty,” Paloma said when asked for comment after the verdict. His attorney, Roger Futerman, said he was “very pleased with the jury.” Members of Paloma’s family thanked Futerman and his co-attorney, Katie Ingram, and hugged them.

Paloma’s acquittal came two days after the prosecutor took the stand. She said Wednesday that the officer saw her turning into a roundabout after she was nearly hit by passing cars. He turned on the hazard lights of his unmarked Ford Explorer to stop her, she recalled.

Due to the sensitivity of the allegations, the Tampa Bay Times is not naming the woman.

The woman accused Paloma of telling her to be “quiet” and run a red light and ordering her to get in his car. She said he drove her around Clearwater Beach for nearly 30 minutes and mentioned that he was looking for a place without cameras. Eventually, he drove to a dark area and forced her to perform sexual acts, she testified.

“I felt like I had to do what he wanted,” she said on the witness stand. At the end of her testimony, she burst into tears.

Futerman, the lead defense attorney, repeatedly described the case as a matter of “he said, she said” – a case in which jurors would have to decide whose version of events was more credible. Paloma did not deny that she had had a sexual encounter with the woman, but said it was consensual.

“This is a mutual involvement of two people,” Futerman said. “If you have any doubt about consent in this case, you must find Mr. Paloma not guilty.”

Paloma testified Friday, saying the woman was flirting with him when he first met her around midnight while working an off-duty shift as a security guard at Coco’s Crush bar. He testified he encountered her again as he was going through the roundabout and turning on his hazard lights. The moment was captured on security camera video.

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“I told her, ‘Hey, you have to be careful, you almost got hit by a car,'” Paloma said.

He said he offered her a “free ride” to her hotel.

Prosecutors had noted in their case that Paloma had turned off his body-worn camera and police computer, which allowed his car to be tracked by GPS. On the witness stand, Paloma described these actions as habitual actions he performed on his way home from work.

“He drove her around aimlessly for 30 minutes,” said prosecutor Christie Ellis. “He tried to make small talk with her. But he always implied that she had to do something for him.”

Paloma said he drove to several Marriotts because the woman didn’t remember where she was staying. Police used surveillance footage and information from the GPS before it was turned off to determine he drove to four Marriotts, including the woman’s, which he said she didn’t recognize.

After they drove around, Paloma testified, the woman began a sexual encounter with him. He expressed regret in court that he had allowed this to happen.

When he dropped her off at the hotel, he said, she threw him a drink and stormed off, complaining that he wouldn’t accompany her inside.

Within days, police surrounded Paloma’s Clearwater home, including with sniffer dogs and a helicopter. He was arrested and taken to the station, while officers confiscated his unmarked vehicle and equipment.

Paloma told jurors that no one explained why he was arrested until he was handcuffed and registered.

He repeatedly stressed that he had no evidence that the woman, a married mother of two children, was drunk when he picked her up – although blood and urine tests presented in court on Thursday suggested her blood alcohol content was probably between 0.102 and 0.291 at the time of the incident. above the limit at which it is considered unsafe to drive under Florida law.

During a one-hour cross-examination Prosecutors repeatedly questioned the former police officer about whether he ever thought the woman’s behavior was unusual or a sign of her intoxication.

“He wants you to believe that as a trained police officer, he had no idea she was drunk. Is that reasonable? Absolutely not,” Ellis said during the state’s closing argument.

The defense focused on what it called inconsistencies in the woman’s initial statements to police and cellphone recordings that appeared to show she repeatedly hung up during the car ride as she told jurors she felt in danger.

Futerman characterized them actions as those of an “extremely aggressive and assertive” woman under the influence of alcohol. In his closing argument, he showed the jury surveillance camera footage showing her entering the hotel lobby and argues with her friend.

After the jury announced its verdict, Clearwater Police Chief Eric Gandy described Paloma’s behavior in the days following his arrest as “reprehensible.” While he respected and accepted the outcome of the trial, this did not change the fact that the former police officer had abused the public trust.

“Former police officer Nicolas Paloma violated the rules on several occasions, including engaging in sexual acts with a citizen he stopped in a police car while in full uniform,” Gandy said. “The verdict does not change the fact that his actions undermined public confidence and cost him his career.”

Times writer Dan Sullivan contributed to this report.