Robert Telles appeals conviction in RJ reporter’s murder

A former Clark County elected official convicted of killing Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German is attempting to appeal his conviction.

Robert Telles, the former Clark County Public Administrator, filed a handwritten notice of appeal on Monday, indicating he is appealing his conviction for first-degree murder with a deadly weapon against a victim 60 or older. The document did not contain any additional information on the justification for the appeal.

A jury convicted Telles in August for killing German over articles the journalist had written about his conduct as an elected official. German had reported on allegations that Telles created a toxic work environment within the county office and carried on an affair with a staffer.

German, 69, was attacked and stabbed to death outside his home in September 2022.

Telles has been sentenced to 28 years to life in prison for killing German. He has been sent to High Desert State Prison, northwest of the Las Vegas Valley.

Because Telles spent two years in jail before the jury trial, the earliest he could be released from prison under his conviction is in 26 years. His former defense attorney, Robert Draskovich, previously said that Telles was planning to appeal the case the day the jury found him guilty of German’s murder.

Telles has claimed since he was arrested that he did not kill German and that he was framed in a vast conspiracy involving the police, the district attorney’s office and a local real estate company. Prosecutors argued during trial that there was overwhelming evidence against him, including Telles’ DNA found underneath German’s fingernails and information found on his work computer and cell phone indicating Telles had been surveilling German.

Telles is scheduled to appear for a court hearing in front of District Judge Michelle Leavitt on Dec. 10, for the judge to appoint him a new attorney, court records show.