Robert Telles, the former Clark County public administrator accused of murder in the 2022 death of Las Vegas journalist Jeff Germanis expected to take the stand in his own defense on Wednesday.
Court adjourned for lunch shortly after 12:30 PM local time, 3:30 PM ET, and will resume at 2:00 PM local time, 5:00 PM ET.
German, 69, was found stabbed to death dead outside his home.
Prosecutors have argued that Telles was motivated by German’s coverage of his office, which painted a picture of a county administration in turmoil and included allegations that Telles had an inappropriate relationship with a female co-worker. Telles mocked the German and the newspaper he worked for, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, on social media.
Telles, 47, has pleaded not guilty. He told Judge Michelle Leavitt in court Tuesday that he understood he was not required to testify. His attorneys, Robert Draskovich and Michael Horvath, said outside court Tuesday that they discouraged Telles from testifying, but he has insisted.
The defense may still call three other witnesses, Draskovich said, including a witness who can corroborate Telle’s story that he visited a local membership gym the day of the murder. The defense attorney said Telles is expected to be the last person called, no family members or character witnesses are scheduled. Telle’s testimony may take more than a day.
“He has a right to his defense,” Draskovich told reporters. “This is the defense that he wants to present.”
His defense team called two witnesses on Tuesday: a clinical and forensic psychologist, who testified that cuts found on Telle’s wrists when he was arrested at his home by Las Vegas police should not be interpreted as evidence of a guilty conscience, and a woman testified that she called the police to report that she believed that a person seen on a video news report wearing orange clothing walking near German’s home resembled someone she saw in a park a few days before the murder. She did not identify Telles in court.
The prosecutor rested his case on Monday after spending four days building his case against Telles, including calling 28 witnesses and presenting hundreds of pages of photos, police reports and video evidence against him.