Robert Telles, the former county administrator convicted of murdering Las Vegas reporter Jeff German, has filed a notice appealing his conviction to the Nevada Supreme Court. In August, Telles, 48, was sentenced to 20 years to life for the first-degree murder of the 69-year-old journalist.
The handwritten court document, obtained by KLAS-TV/Las Vegas, was filed by Telles himself, who is no longer represented by his trial attorneys. Throughout his trial, Telles largely disregarded their advice. Although previously an attorney, Telles had no experience in criminal law. Defying convention, he chose to testify in his own defense through a narrative, bypassing the usual procedure of attorney-directed questioning—a method typically used when defense attorneys believe their client’s testimony might be false.
Telles asserted that he was framed, claiming a Las Vegas realty company arranged for German’s murder to halt his investigations into their alleged corruption. He suggested that the company orchestrated the killing even though German was murdered after Telles had been voted out of office. Despite his claims, Telles presented no evidence to support his theory, whereas the prosecution provided substantial evidence pointing to his guilt.
The evidence included a text message from his wife asking for his whereabouts at the time of the murder, Telles’ DNA under German’s fingernails, and surveillance footage showing a man driving Telles’ car and entering the murder scene. The man was wearing a straw hat later found shredded in Telles’ home.
In October, Judge Michelle Leavitt of the Clark County District Court added an additional eight to 20 years to Telles’ sentence, citing the weapon used in the crime and the fact that his victim was over 60 years old. Telles is currently serving his sentence at Nevada’s High Desert State Prison, located 40 miles outside Las Vegas.
If his appeal is denied, Telles will be eligible for parole in 2050, when he will be 74 years old. Jeff German was a respected newspaper reporter who had investigated corruption in local government for more than 40 years with the Las Vegas Review-Journal and previously with the Las Vegas Sun.
