3 takeaways from start of murder trial in killing of RJ reporter

The murder trial of Robert Telles, the former Clark County public administrator accused of killing Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German, began with jury selection on Monday.

Telles is accused of killing German over articles the journalist wrote about Telles’ conduct as an elected official.

Just under 60 potential jurors gathered at the Regional Justice Center in downtown Las Vegas for jury selection. Attorneys are looking to narrow down the jurors to a panel of 12, plus alternates.

Here are a few key takeaways from the first day of trial proceedings:

Telles waives devices

District Judge Michelle Leavitt questioned Telles before the trial began, when he confirmed that he was waiving further search of German’s personal devices. The Review-Journal turned over information on German’s laptop to prosecutors and Telles’ defense attorney before trial started in the early afternoon.

The newspaper waived its privilege over some of the journalistic information on the devices related to the case, but asserted privilege over other privileged information related and unrelated to the case.

Motion dismissed

Leavitt also addressed two motions filed by Telles’ defense attorney, Robert Draskovich, which sought to dismiss Telles’ charges or exclude some evidence during trial. Leavitt denied the motion to dismiss the charges before trial began on Monday.

The judge also denied the motion’s argument to exclude testimony about Telles’ DNA, which prosecutors have said was found underneath German’s fingernails.

Draskovich said he would state other objections about evidence during the trial.

Trial officially starts

The trial began with jury selection at about 2 p.m. Monday afternoon.

Attorneys asked jurors to answer questions, such as their opinions on the criminal justice system, and whether they had heard about the case in the news media. Jurors were questioned if their answers would affect their ability to remain fair and impartial during a trial.

Jurors also were asked about any potential conflicts that would prevent them from serving for at least two weeks. Fewer than 40 people were told to return for day two of jury selection on Tuesday.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240.