The murder trial has begun this week for Robert Telles, a Nevada Democrat politician who is charged with killing an investigative journalist.
Telles, a former Democrat Clark County administrator of estates, was arrested in September 2022, as Slay News reported at the time.
He has remained jailed since his arrest.
The former Las Vegas-area politician was charged with murder just days after Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German was found slashed and stabbed to death outside his home over Labor Day weekend.
In a statement, Las Vegas attorney Marc Randazza said that while he did not know Telles well, he sensed something was off when they had met.
“I would not claim to know Telles, but I have been to dinner parties where he was also a guest,” Randazza said.
“Never really sensed that he was capable of such a thing, although I always found him a bit odd.
“But in a lot of ways, one has to be a bit odd to be ‘normal’ in Las Vegas, something I say with pride.”
German, 69, was found slashed and stabbed to death in a side yard outside his home.
Telles is accused in a criminal complaint of “lying in wait” outside the property for German to come outside.
German wrote articles in early 2022 about Telles and a county office in turmoil.
Prosecutors say the articles were a motive for the killing.
Randazza said this case has an interesting angle involving the First Amendment, which he says is the firm’s primary interest in the matter.
He noted that the free speech element is really the only part of the case that has far-reaching implications beyond mere fascination with true crime.
“As part of the investigation and prosecution, the Las Vegas Metro Police Department obtained German’s journalistic papers and notes, including those on his cellphone,” Randazza said.
“The Las Vegas Review-Journal, the reporter’s employer, sought to prevent the police and the prosecution from reviewing his devices and papers, citing Nevada’s news shield statute.
“Journalists generally have a privilege against the disclosure of their papers, which might also include information about their sources for information, under the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of the press.
“The Nevada Supreme Court found that the privilege does not die with the reporter and protected the information from direct disclosure to the government.
“Ultimately, the Review-Journal and the prosecution reached a deal where German’s devices could be reviewed by a third party to screen confidential information.”
Telles became a lawyer in 2015 and ran as a Democrat in 2018 to become Clark County administrator of estates.
He lost his elected position after his arrest and his law license was suspended.
He has pleaded not guilty to open murder and could face life in prison if convicted.
He has remained jailed while preparing to face a jury.
Randazza criticized Telles’s choice to originally represent himself.
“He has waffled between being represented and representing himself,” Randazza said.
“Representing himself was one of the most foolish things I’ve ever seen someone do in court, but it is his constitutional right.
“However, it appears that he has retained counsel again.”
Robert Draskovich, Telles’ defense attorney, said that Telles has “been looking forward to trial and wants to tell his story,” the Associated Press reported.
Prosecutors say they have strong evidence, including DNA believed to be from Telles found beneath German’s fingernails and cut-up pieces of a straw hat.
Shoes found at Telles’s house also resembled those worn by the person seen on video outside German’s home.
However, Randazza again criticized Telles’s approach and his defense strategy.
“His ‘I didn’t do it’ defense seems like a poor strategy,” Randazza said.
“There are other defenses other than ‘Must be some other guy who looked like me and who had all this evidence in his house.’”
In a court filing, Telles maintains he was illegally detained by police before his arrest, and officer body-worn camera video of the traffic stop during which he was taken into custody was improperly deleted.
He also claims that hospital blood tests taken after his arrest and treatment for what he has called self-inflicted slash wounds to his wrists were not included as evidence in his case.
Clark County District Court Judge Michelle Leavitt rejected other requests to dismiss the case, while Telles hired and fired attorneys and served as his own defense lawyer.
Telles twice tried to have Leavitt removed from his case, arguing she was biased against him.
“He seems to believe that Judge Leavitt is biased against him and has tried to get [her] recused,” Randazza said.
“This is rarely a strong play, and it has not worked thus far. For what it’s worth, I think that when it comes to a judge with integrity, you can probably find equals with Leavitt, but you’re not going to find anyone who outranks her in the integrity competition.”
Telles wanted his trial to occur quickly.
However, progress was delayed in part by a legal battle the Review-Journal took to the state Supreme Court to protect public disclosure of confidential sources on German’s cellphone and computers.
The newspaper argued that names and unpublished material were protected from disclosure by the First Amendment and Nevada state law.
Police argued their investigation would not be complete until the devices were searched for possible evidence.
The court gave the newspaper, its lawyers, and consultants time to review the files first.
https://slaynews.com/news/murder-trial-begins-nevada-democrat-accused-killing-journalist/
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