In his opening remarks to jurors on Wednesday, a former Las Vegas-area Democratic officeholder declared he did not kill an investigative journalist who wrote a story critical of him and his workplace conduct — and promised jurors he would tell his story.
“We’ve been waiting for this day,” Robert Telles said after his lawyers received permission from the judge to testify in a “narrated format” rather than the usual question-and-answer format.
His lawyer, Robert Draskovich, took his seat afterward. He had urged his client not to take the stand and risk being questioned in sworn depositions by the two prosecutors. Prosecutors wrapped up their murder trial on Monday after a four-day investigation, 28 witness testimony and hundreds of pages of photographs, police reports and video evidence against Telles.
If convicted, Telles could face life in prison.
“I am absolutely innocent,” Mr. Telles said quietly, before turning to the stand and facing the 12 jurors and two alternates, who then turned to face Mr. Telles.
Some had notebooks and pens at the ready. The silent courtroom was packed with media and observers, including the family of slain journalist Jeff German.
“I did not kill Mr. German,” Telles said. “It is my right to share my views with you all, and it is your right to decide whether you agree with my views or not, whether you doubt my views or not. I just hope that nothing will stop me from sharing with you what I have to say.”
So began the first 90 minutes of Mr. Tellez’s testimony. Within 30 minutes, it was halted and he improvised and fumbled to ask court officials to show him photos and documents, while some jurors looked around the courtroom. Several notebooks had fallen to the ground. One man twirled a pen between his fingers.
Within an hour, Clark County District Court Judge Michelle Leavitt warned Tellez to stop speaking until she ruled on the prosecution’s objections to his testimony, telling him that “his opinions are not material at this time.”
Tellez did not seem to understand that defense lawyers can only offer their opinions and interpretations of the evidence in closing arguments.
“So once again, I ask you to limit your testimony to the facts and observations you have stated,” the judge said.
The day will end at 5 p.m. Telles is scheduled to return to the stand on Thursday to finish his testimony and face the cross-examination he has been warned about. Draskovich said he expects Telles to be the final defense witness.
“I was in solitary confinement for almost two years,” Telles told jurors, adding multiple times that he was “very nervous.”
Telles, 47, is a civil law attorney who served as the county’s unclaimed property administrator before losing his job.
His law license was suspended after Gelman was stabbed to death outside his home and arrested days later on Sept. 2, 2022. No family members have been called as witnesses on Gelman’s behalf.
German, 69, has covered Las Vegas gangs and public officials for 44 years for the Las Vegas Sun and Review-Journal.
About 10 family members and friends of the defendants attended the trial but declined to speak to the media.
Telles has previously said he did not kill Germán but has not explained what he was doing that day. He said he was framed and victimized by a real estate network of political and social “old forces” who tried to fight the corruption he witnessed in office.
A health club manager testified Wednesday that records show a Tellus membership was used to check in at the Las Vegas facility just after noon on the day German was killed, but he also said video of guest arrivals and departures from that time period is no longer available.
Earlier, a cell phone data expert testifying for Telles’ defense admitted under questioning by prosecutors that Telles’ cell phone had no records of calls between 8:48 a.m. and 2:05 p.m. on the day of the murder, the period that evidence shows corresponds to when German was killed.
Police and prosecutors say they believe Tellez left his cellphone at home.
Terres claims he killed Gelman because Gelman wrote an article for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Courthouse in chaos Under Telles’ leadership, a number of problems emerged, including allegations that he had had inappropriate relationships with female colleagues.
Evidence showed Telles’ DNA was found under Jarman’s fingernails and that Telles had family ties to a maroon SUV that was seen in Jarman’s neighborhood around the time Jarman was killed.
On Telles’ phone and computer, police found hundreds of photos from German’s home and several pages of German’s identification, some of which were time-stamped and collected just weeks before the murder.
Police found a wide straw hat and pieces of a gray sneaker in Telles’ home that matched those of a man seen on nearby security cameras wearing an oversized orange long-sleeved shirt and carrying a large canvas bag as he crept into German’s backyard and watched as the journalist was ambushed and left for dead in a pool of blood.
