Current:Home > ContactJury returns to deliberations in trial of former politician accused of killing Las Vegas reporter -Wealth Nexus Pro
Jury returns to deliberations in trial of former politician accused of killing Las Vegas reporter
View
Date:2025-04-16 13:32:53
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Nevada jury returned to deliberations Wednesday in the murder trial of a Democratic ex-politician accused of killing a Las Vegas investigative journalist two years ago over stories the reporter wrote about the official’s conduct in public office two years ago.
Work for the panel of seven women and five men to reach a verdict resumed after eight days of trial and more than 10 hours behind closed doors Monday and Tuesday in Clark County District Court.
Robert Telles is accused of stabbing reporter Jeff German to death in a side yard of German’s home on Labor Day weekend 2022 after he wrote stories about Telles and the county office that handles unclaimed estates.
Telles denied killing German. He alleged a broad conspiracy of people framed him for German’s killing in retaliation for his effort to root out corruption he saw in his office.
“I am not the kind of person who would stab someone. I didn’t kill Mr. German,” he testified. “And that’s my testimony.”
Defense lawyer Robert Draskovich showed the jury an image during closing arguments Monday of a person whose profile didn’t look like Telles’ driving a maroon SUV that evidence showed was key to the crime. He noted that none of German’s blood or DNA was found on Telles, in his vehicle or at his home.
He asked jurors to ask themselves, “What evidence is missing?”
Prosecutor Christopher Hamner told jurors that finding Telles guilty would be like “connecting the dots” based on overwhelming evidence they heard — including DNA that matched Telles found beneath German’s fingernails.
Hamner maintained that German fought to the death with his attacker and that Telles blamed German for destroying his career, ruining his reputation and threatening his marriage.
Telles lost his primary for a second elected term after German’s stories appeared in the Las Vegas Review-Journal in May and June 2022. They described turmoil and bullying at the Clark County Public Administrator/Guardian office and a romantic relationship between Telles and an employee.
Hamner said Telles learned from county officials just hours before German was killed that the reporter was working on another story about that relationship.
Prosecutors presented a timeline and videos showing Telles’ maroon SUV leaving the neighborhood near his home a little after 9 a.m. on Sept. 2, 2022, and driving on streets near German’s home a short time later.
The SUV driver is seen wearing a bright orange outfit similar to one worn by a person captured on camera walking to German’s home and slipping into a side yard where German was attacked just after 11:15 a.m.
A little more than 2 minutes later, the figure in orange emerges and walks down a sidewalk. German does not reappear.
Evidence showed Telles’ wife sent him a text message about 10:30 a.m. asking, “Where are you?” Prosecutors said Telles left his cellphone at home so he couldn’t be tracked. Telles told the jury he took a walk and then went to a gym in the afternoon.
German, 69, was a respected journalist who spent 44 years covering crime, courts and corruption in Las Vegas. About a dozen of his family members and friends have watched the trial. They’ve declined as a group to comment.
Telles, 47, is an attorney who practiced civil law before he was elected in 2018. His law license was suspended following his arrest. He faces up to life in prison if he’s found guilty.
Weckerly and Hamner presented 28 witnesses and hundreds of pages of photos, police reports and video. Telles and five other people testified for the defense. No Telles family members were called to the stand or identified in the trial gallery.
German was the only journalist killed in the U.S. in 2022, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. The nonprofit has records of 17 media workers killed in the U.S. since 1992.
veryGood! (382)
Related
- Paige Bueckers vs. Hannah Hidalgo highlights women's basketball games to watch
- NFL distances itself from controversial comments made by Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker
- Riley Strain’s Family Accepts His College Diploma at Emotional Graduation
- New app allows you to send text, audio and video messages to loved ones after you die
- Trump invites nearly all federal workers to quit now, get paid through September
- Florida Panthers, Gustav Forsling oust Boston Bruins, return to conference finals
- Memphis man gets 80 years in prison for raping a woman a year before jogger’s killing
- 70 years on, Topeka's first Black female superintendent seeks to further the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education
- Charges tied to China weigh on GM in Q4, but profit and revenue top expectations
- California’s scenic Highway 1 to Big Sur opens to around-the-clock travel as slide repair advances
Ranking
- Federal court filings allege official committed perjury in lawsuit tied to Louisiana grain terminal
- 35 Father's Day Gift Ideas Under $10 That Your Dad Will Actually Use
- Feds are investigating Waymo driverless cars after reports of crashes, traffic violations
- Never-before-seen photos of Queen Elizabeth, Princess Margaret through the century unveiled
- Intel's stock did something it hasn't done since 2022
- Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell working from home after testing positive for COVID-19
- U.S. announces effort to expedite court cases of migrants who cross the border illegally
- Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs abuse allegations: A timeline of key events
Recommendation
In ‘Nickel Boys,’ striving for a new way to see
Chris Kreider hat trick rallies Rangers past Hurricanes, into Eastern Conference finals
Georgia's parliament passes controversial foreign agent law amid protests, widespread criticism
The deadline to file for a piece of Apple's $35 million settlement with some iPhone 7 users is approaching. Here's who qualifies.
Taylor Swift Eras Archive site launches on singer's 35th birthday. What is it?
West Side Books and Curios: Denver’s choice spot for vintage titles
Teachers criticize Newsom’s budget proposal, say it would ‘wreak havoc on funding for our schools’
Houston in 'recovery mode' after storm kills 4, widespread power outages