LAS VEGAS – The trial of a Las Vegas-area politician accused of killing an investigative reporter who wrote articles critical of him will be the center of attention in Nevada on Monday, with jury selection set to begin in a case that stunned Sin City and the world of journalism.
“This turned everything upside down,” Tom Pitaro, a veteran Las Vegas defense attorney, said of the death of reporter Jeff German, who for 44 years developed deep confidential sources in the city, its government and its courts.
Pitaro also taught Robert Telles, the public official accused of killing German, in law school about a decade ago at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
“When you have a public office holder, a respected journalist and the type of murder it was, I think people are in shock about how this could happen,” Pitaro said.
The 2022 Labor Day weekend murder attracted widespread attention. German, 69, became the only journalist killed in the U.S. among at least 67 news media workers murdered around the world that year, according to the New York-based newspaper. Committee to Protect Journalists.
Originally from Milwaukee, German was widely respected for reporting on courts, organized crime, government corruption, political scandals and mass shootings, first at the Las Vegas Sun and later at the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Prosecutors say articles he wrote in early 2022 about Telles and a county office in crisis were the reason for the murder.
German was found stabbed and stabbed to death in a side yard outside his home, where Telles is accused in a criminal complaint of “lying in wait” for German to leave.
Telles, 47, was arrested days later after police released video of a person wearing an orange work shirt and a wide-brimmed straw hat carrying a shoulder bag and walking toward German’s home. Police also released images of a distinctive brown SUV, like the one a Review-Journal photographer saw Telles washing outside his home several days after the murder.
Telles grew up in El Paso, Texas, and lived in Colorado before moving to Las Vegas. He became a lawyer in 2015 and ran as a Democrat in 2018 to become Clark County property administrator. He lost his elected position after his arrest and his law license was suspended.
He has declared himself innocent for open murder and could face life in prison if convicted. He remained jailed as he prepared to face a jury.
“He’s looking forward to the trial,” Telles’ defense attorney, Robert Draskovich, said before Monday’s proceedings. “He wants to tell his story.”
More than 100 potential jurors filled out questionnaires about what they heard about German’s murder and Telles’ arrest. Interviewing and recruiting 12 jurors and several alternates can take several days. The deposition is expected to take less than two weeks. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty.
First, though, Clark County District Court Judge Michelle Leavitt will hear a final request on Monday to dismiss the case against Telles and dismiss the trial.
In court proceedings, Telles claims that he was illegally detained by the police before being arrested; the officer’s body-worn camera video of the traffic stop during which he was taken into custody was improperly deleted; and hospital blood tests taken after his arrest and treatment for what he called self-inflicted wounds to his wrists were not included as evidence in his case.
Leavitt rejected other requests to dismiss the case, while Telles hired and fired lawyers and served as his own defense attorney. Telles twice tried to have Leavitt removed from his case, arguing that she was biased against him.
German’s relatives have not spoken publicly about the murder. Family spokesman and friend George McCabe said Friday that they declined to comment on the trial.
Prosecutors say they have strong evidence including DNA believed to be Telles’, found under German’s fingernails and cut-out pieces of a straw hat and shoes found in Telles’ home that resembled those worn by the person seen in the video outside German’s home.
Telles wanted his trial to take place quickly. But progress was delayed in part by a legal battle the Review-Journal appealed to the state Supreme Court to protect the public disclosure of confidential sources on German’s cell phones and computers.
The newspaper argued that unpublished names and materials were protected from disclosure by the First Amendment and Nevada state law. Police argued that 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 first analyze the files.
An attorney representing the Review-Journal told the judge last week that the review process will be completed in time to turn over the records to police, prosecutors and Telles’ attorneys before jury selection begins.
Telles also wants Leavitt to issue a ruling blocking trial testimony about a hostile workplace and discrimination lawsuit that four women who work at the office he heads have pending in federal court against Telles and Clark County.
The Committee to Protect Journalists gathered records of 17 journalists and media professionals deaths in the US since 1992, including 15 whose deaths were work-related.
“Fortunately, murders of journalists in the US are extremely rare,” said Katherine Jacobsen, the organization’s program coordinator. “An attempt on your life in your own backyard is so outside the norm that it’s really difficult to prepare for situations like that.”
Gabe Rottman of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in Washington, D.C., agreed that the killings are unusual, but said journalists in the U.S. may face threats from protesters or law enforcement officers while covering civil unrest or violence.
“The ability of journalists to do their work freely and safely is essential for the public to hold public officials accountable,” said Rottman. “The most severe way to close the public’s eyes to what is happening is to threaten the life of a journalist for doing his job. This shouldn’t happen.”
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