On Wednesday, a pivotal defense witness in the murder trial of Robert Telles took the stand. Telles is the former Las Vegas public official accused of killing Jeff German, a seasoned investigative journalist who had written articles critical of Telles’ professional conduct nearly two years ago.
That witness was Robert Telles himself.
“I am innocent and I am being framed,” Telles declared as he began his testimony toward the end of Day 8 of his trial.
In an unusual twist, Telles chose to provide narrative testimony rather than respond to questions from an attorney. For nearly two hours, he outlined a detailed and winding account of his role as the Clark County Public Administrator, emphasizing his efforts to investigate corruption, which he claimed earned him numerous enemies. One of these adversaries, he alleged, was a Las Vegas realty company he named in court.
Telles described several supposed fraudulent transactions within the company and what he claimed were false accusations it made against him. He asserted that someone connected to the company had left Jeff German a death threat voicemail in February 2022, aiming to frame him for the murder.
This approach by Telles might suggest an ethical quandary faced by his attorneys, as legal professionals are prohibited from eliciting testimony they know to be false under the Model Rules of Professional Conduct.
Taking the stand in one’s own defense is a rare and risky move. It means waiving the Fifth Amendment right to abstain from testifying if such testimony could be self-incriminating. Additionally, it opens the door for the prosecution to use the defendant’s words against them during cross-examination.
Indeed, Telles’ defense attorneys, Robert Draskovich and Michael Horvath, informed reporters outside the courtroom on Tuesday that they had advised their client against this strategy. “He’s entitled to his defense,” Draskovich stated. “This is the defense that he wants to present.”
The prosecution concluded its case on Monday, presenting 28 witnesses and hundreds of pages of photos, police reports, and video evidence. Among their most compelling evidence was the discovery of Telles’ DNA under German’s fingernails, footage of a maroon SUV owned by a member of Telles’ family parked near the murder scene, and numerous photos of German’s house found on Telles’ cellphone and computer.
Additionally, police retrieved a cut-up straw hat from Telles’ garbage that resembled one seen in surveillance footage, worn by a man entering and exiting the side of German’s house around the time of the suspected stabbing.
As court recessed on Wednesday, Telles had not yet addressed any of that evidence. His narrative testimony is expected to continue on Thursday.
Telles has been detained at the Clark County Detention Center since his arrest in September 2022.
