On July 5, 2015 at roughly 1:30 am, Ofc. Palaoro texted that it is “probably not appropriate” but offers to come see Ms. Reid or simply talk with her about personal matters. About 10 minutes later he texts that he “would like to be your company” and the two make arrangements for him to go to her hotel room after he gets off work at 2 am. He wound up working a bit later than he expected due to an officer involved shooting, but arrived at her hotel around 3:35 am.

Ms. Reid had gone to the lobby of the hotel to let him in. While there, she talked with a front desk clerk and a security guard about her work and that she had a deal with HBO for a reality show about her job. She told the security guard that a “producer” was coming over to see her. This contrasts with her account to Detectives in which she claimed she told the desk clerk and the security guard that a police officer was coming to see her and that they both commented “that’s weird.”

Ofc. Palaoro spent about 7 hours with Ms. Reid in her hotel room. There is surveillance video that shows when he entered and left the hotel. The only evidence of what occurred during the time he was in her room comes from Ms. Reid. She states that Ofc. Palaoro removed a gun that he had in his backpack and placed it on a stand by the television. He asked Ms. Reid if it made her nervous to have a gun in the room, but it appears as though she didn’t directly reply to this question, telling detectives that she was “uncomfortable to tell him that it was uncomfortable.” Ms. Reid denies that Ofc. Palaoro ever pointed the gun at her or made any kind of threat with the gun.

Per Ms. Reid, the two sat on a couch and talked for a while and at some point Ofc. Palaoro asked Ms. Reid why she had earlier told him about her job as a sex coach. Ofc. Palaoro then stood up and “told” her that she was going to give him a massage. He then took off his clothes and got into a bed. She placed a towel over his rear and gave him a massage. When she was done, Ofc. Palaoro asked if he could take a shower in the room. Although she found this “odd”, Ms. Reid said that he could.

After the shower, Ofc. Palaoro approached Ms. Reid as she sat on the edge of her bed. He had a towel on but was not otherwise dressed. Ofc. Palaoro approached her and stated that he was attracted to Ms. Reid. He then asked her to “come here” and she responded “I’m right here.” Ofc. Palaoro pulled down her tank top and attempted to kiss her breasts. He also put his hand on her vagina (over clothing) and attempted to take off her Yoga pants. Ms. Reid told him to stop and stated that she was in love with another man, Mr. Lewis. Ofc. Palaoro stopped his advances and asked her not to tell anyone what had happened. He then left the hotel around 10 am on July 5.

Ofc. Palaoro texted Ms. Reid within 10 minutes of leaving her hotel room, thanking her for the massage. The two exchange some additional texts in which Ms. Reid indicates that she is going to stay one more night and apologizes for being a “mess emotionally”.

On July 6, 2015, the two exchange some additional texts about Ms. Reid going to FED to have pictures taken of her bruising from the injuries she got from Mr. Lewis. Ms. Reid specifically

asks Ofc. Palaoro if she can call him later. She also initiates additional text messaging about an hour after that by sending him a message of “hi”.

Later that day, Ms. Reid goes to FED to have pictures of her bruises taken. While there she mentions that Ofc. Palaoro had wanted to come to her hotel for a “date” and that he was “unprofessional”. This information was passed along to Detectives who then interviewed Ms. Reid about the incident.

Legal Analysis: Ms. Reid’s own account of events does not articulate criminal sexual behavior, but it does articulate unprofessional behavior that rises to the level of Official Misconduct.

Per Ms. Reid, she allowed Ofc. Palaoro to come to her hotel and met him in the lobby to let him in. It is clear from text messaging between the two that Ofc. Palaoro had offered to come see her after he got off work. He came in civilian clothing and there are no indications he was coming to the hotel to continue the investigation into the alleged domestic violence situation Ms. Reid had been involved in. If one believes Ms. Reid’s account is entirely accurate, Ofc. Palaoro’s removal of a gun from a backpack does not appear to be any kind of threat towards Ms. Reid. He specifically asked her if the gun made her uncomfortable and she did not respond. It seems logical that one would take a gun out of backpack to ensure its visibility rather than leave it hidden in a backpack where it could be accidently triggered if someone mishandled the backpack.

After being at the hotel for close to 7 hours, Officer Palaoro had received a massage, taken a shower and talked with Ms. Reid about sexual matters. He then attempted to engage her in sexual activity and she refused. Per Ms. Reid, Officer Palaoro stopped his attempts to engage her in sexual conduct once she told him to.

We do not have Officer Palaoro’s account of what happened in this incident, but it should be noted that there will be challenges to Ms. Reid’s credibility in this case. Such challenges will include her misrepresentation of her true name and date of birth to police, her erratic behavior with Mr. Lewis and her apparent attention seeking by talking to complete strangers about her work as a sex therapist. This may include exaggerations such as her having a deal with HBO for a reality show. She also appears to have told her civil attorney that Officer Palaoro just showed up “out of the blue” without having told her attorney about the texting exchange between her and Officer Palaro before his arrival at the hotel. (I am in possession of text messages between Ms. Reid and her civil attorney that she apparently then forwarded to Mr. Lewis. Mr. Lewis in turn provided them to his attorney who provided them to this office. In these messages, Ms. Reid’s attorney expresses concern that she is not being forthcoming with all the details of the evening.) Finally, defense will be able to use her prior conviction for theft as impeachment if she testifies at trial.

To prove the crime of Official Misconduct in the First Degree, the State must be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Palaoro knowingly performed an “act” in his official

capacity, i.e. exercising the powers or opportunities available by virtue of his position, the act must be “unauthorized” and “with intent to obtain a benefit”. ORS 162.415 (1)(b) as explained and interpreted in State v. Gove, 128 Or App 239 (1994). In this case, Officer Palaoro’s “act” is his conduct designed to set up a personal meeting with a distraught alleged victim of domestic violence whom Officer Palaoro only knows via his responding to the DV call. The context of the text messages the two exchange make it clear that Officer Palaoro is not visiting Ms. Reid for any reason related to the furtherance of the DV investigation and that he hopes to obtain a benefit of female companionship. In short, it is the behavior of trying to arrange a “date” with an alleged domestic violence victim that he had met earlier that evening. Despite the fact that there will be challenges to Ms. Reid’s veracity, it seems abundantly clear from the evidence that Ofc. Palaoro began communicating with Ms. Reid shortly after responding to the domestic violence call for the purpose of arranging a date-like meeting.