“It’s always unwise to represent yourself in any matter, let alone a first-degree murder case,” Clark County District Court Judge Michelle Leavitt told Robert “Rob” Telles, a former Democratic county official accused of stabbing Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German to death last September.Telles, 46, a lawyer since 2015, had his law license to practice suspended after his arrest in German’s slaying.
Telles does not have to be a lawyer to represent himself. The U.S. Supreme Court held in 1975 that criminal defendants in state courts have a constitutional right to represent themselves. In his interview with AP, Telles maintained that he did not kill German. But he did not provide new evidence in his defense and did not say what he was doing the day police and prosecutors say German was attacked and killed in a side yard of German’s house. Telles said he wants to testify before a jury.
German, 69, was widely respected for his tenacity and confidential contacts in 44 years reporting on organized crime, government corruption, political scandals and mass shootings - first at the Las Vegas Sun and then at the Review-Journal. Telles’ elected term as Clark County public administrator was cut short following his arrest less than a week after German’s death. The office handles dead people’s assets.
In the AP interview, Telles insisted evidence that police and prosecutors say was collected at his home and on German was “planted.”In addition to delays due to attorney changes, steps toward trial are on hold pending a ruling by the state Supreme Court on an appeal by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department of a judge’s order blocking homicide detectives from accessing digital records on computers and a cellphone seized from German’s home.