Trial delayed in investigative reporter’s killing

A Las Vegas judge on Tuesday postponed the murder trial for former Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles.

He is accused of killing Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German over articles German had written about Telles’ conduct as an elected official. German, 69, was found dead in September 2022 after being violently stabbed outside his home.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Pamela Weckerly announced during a court hearing last week that prosecutors would seek a continuance for Telles’ trial, which had been scheduled to begin on Monday.

District Judge Michelle Leavitt granted the prosecutors’ request to delay the trial, but she did not set a new date for the trial to start.

Telles, acting against the advice of his attorney, previously pushed for the trial to move forward. But his defense attorney, Robert Draskovich, said Tuesday that Telles is no longer opposing prosecutors’ attempts to delay the trial because of information the police is providing about a bribery investigation involving Telles that predates German’s killing.

The Review-Journal has previously reported that police were investigating allegations that Telles orchestrated a house-flipping scheme to profit from property sales handled by the public administrator’s office.

Draskovich said investigators were looking into allegations that Telles favored certain realtors. He said he has not seen the information being provided by Metro, but he believes it will possibly include search warrants and records of cell phones that police seized.

“We intend on attacking the integrity of the bribery investigation,” Draskovich said after Tuesday’s hearing.

Weckerly requested a delay in the trial because prosecutors want to review all the information contained in German’s personal devices, which were seized by police after his death and are being searched by Review-Journal employees for potential confidential information.

Telles has said he wanted the trial to move forward, despite him not having access to the information on the devices, because he believed he did not need the information for his defense. Telles has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge, and has claimed that he was both framed for German’s murder and was the victim of police misconduct during the investigation.

The Review-Journal entered a lengthy legal fight to prevent officials from searching German’s devices, which culminated in the Nevada Supreme Court ruling in October that the state’s shield law, which protects journalists from forcibly revealing sources, continues to apply to German’s devices after his death.

Telles waived his right to a speedy trial in October, court records show.

Attorneys for the news organization have stated that searching the devices could take at least six months.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240.