3 takeaways from second day of murder trial in killing of RJ reporter

The second day of the murder trial in the killing of Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German ended on Tuesday evening with the completion of jury selection.

Telles is standing trial on a murder charge after prosecutors accused him of fatally stabbing German in September 2022 over articles the reporter wrote about his conduct as an elected official.

Here are three key takeaways from the second day of trial:

Jury is selected

Seven men and seven women were selected to serve on the jury, which is comprised of a panel of 12 and two alternates. The jury selection process began Monday afternoon and lasted throughout the day on Tuesday.

There were more than 60 potential jurors during day one of the trial. That list was narrowed to less than 40 on Tuesday, but more than two dozen more potential jurors were asked to join the panel on Tuesday afternoon.

Attorneys debated over peremptory challenges on Tuesday evening, which were submitted to the judge in writing to dismiss jurors for almost any reason. Both sides had up to nine peremptory challenges, but the defense and prosecutors only used eight each, said Telles’ defense attorney, Robert Draskovich.

Prosecutors and defense question potential jurors

Attorneys questioned jurors on a wide range of topics, including their opinions on the fairness of the criminal justice system, if they would treat police officers differently than any other witnesses, and if a defendant choosing to testify or not would affect their judgement.

Jurors were also asked if they had prior knowledge of the case through social media or news reports. If they had heard about the case before, they were asked to make a commitment to be impartial.

Opening statements planned for Wednesday

The trial is expected to resume Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. with opening statements.

In criminal homicide trials, it’s common for opening statements to last several hours between the defense and prosecution. The judge has indicated that the trial will run to 5 p.m. every day.

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