Veteran lawyers weigh in on unusual testimony from Robert Telles
Several veteran lawyers said they have never seen the type of testimony delivered Wednesday by former Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles.
Telles took the witness stand at his murder trial and spoke to jurors for about 90 minutes in narrative form, uninterrupted by questions from his attorney, Robert Draskovich.
Former Clark County District Attorney David Roger, general counsel for the Las Vegas Police Protective Association, was in a meeting Wednesday when he saw Telles talking on a muted screen and began receiving messages from friends about the unusual testimony. He said he only had one thought about what might be going on.
“Our ethical rules provide that an attorney cannot put a witness up on the stand if the attorney knows that the witness is going to lie,” Roger said.
One option for an attorney in this situation is to “just notify the judge of the ethical issue and then let the person go up there and tell their story without asking any questions,” he said.
This is because, according to the American Bar Association’s rules, a lawyer cannot offer evidence that the lawyer knows to be false.
“By asking questions, they’re perpetuating a false testimony,” Roger said.
Roger explained that such an approach is generally viewed as a last resort, after trying to persuade the client not to testify.
It’s a tactic that Roger, who prosecuted numerous murder cases during his career, said he’s learned about in many ethics classes but has never seen in action.
Stewart Bell, a former Clark County district attorney and district judge, on the other hand, said the choice to have Telles give narrative testimony may have been made to save time.
“The defendant wants to tell his story,” Bell said, explaining that he could probably do that in less time if his attorney is not asking questions.
Even though he said he’s never seen testimony delivered this way in a case where the client is not representing himself, he wasn’t necessarily surprised to see it in Telles’ case.
Telles, who once worked as a probate lawyer, previously represented himself in the murder case. He is accused of fatally stabbing Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German, who had written stories about him, in September 2022.
During legal disputes between officials and the Review-Journal over the seizure of German’s personal reporting devices, Roger was briefly considered as an option for a third-party search team that would have searched the devices for investigators.
Like Roger, veteran criminal defense attorney Christopher Oram said he has never seen the type of testimony given by Telles, but he added that it shouldn’t affect how Telles will be cross-examined by the prosecution.
Under cross-examination, Telles can be made to answer direct questions, Oram said. “He’s not entitled to just give a narrative.”
The defendant’s testimony is expected to resume Thursday morning.
Contact Estelle Atkinson at eatkinson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @estellelilym on X and @estelleatkinsonreports on Instagram.
