Several veteran lawyers said they have never seen the type of testimony delivered by former Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles on Wednesday, when he spoke to jurors for about 90 minutes in his own murder trial over the killing of Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German.

Former Clark County District Attorney David Roger, general counsel for the Las Vegas Police Protective Association, was in a meeting Wednesday when he saw Telles talking on a muted screen and began receiving messages from friends about the unusual testimony. He said he only had one thought about what might be going on.

“Our ethical rules provide that an attorney cannot put a witness up on the stand if the attorney knows that the witness is going to lie,” Roger said. One option for an attorney in this situation is to “just notify the judge of the ethical issue and then let the person go up there and tell their story without asking any questions,” he said.

This is because, according to the American Bar Association’s rules, a lawyer cannot offer evidence that the lawyer knows to be false. “By asking questions, they’re perpetuating a false testimony,” Roger said.

Roger explained that such an approach is generally viewed as a last resort, after trying to persuade the client not to testify. It’s a tactic that Roger, who prosecuted numerous murder cases during his career, said he has learned about in many ethics classes but has never seen in action.

During legal disputes between officials and the Review-Journal over the seizure of German’s personal reporting devices, Roger was briefly considered as an option for a third-party search team that would have searched the devices for investigators. Telles spoke to jurors on Wednesday uninterrupted by questions from his defense attorney, Robert Draskovich, who said Telles will be the defense’s final witness.

“Please tell us — begin with your story,” Draskovich said before taking a seat. “It’s a day I’ve been waiting for for nearly two years,” Telles said, turning to face jurors. “This thing’s been kind of a nightmare, frankly. … Right now I want to say unequivocally: I’m innocent.

I didn’t kill Mr. German. And I’ve got a lot to share with you all.” Draskovich told the Review-Journal that Telles “wanted to relay his version of the events,” but he declined to comment when asked why Telles testified by way of narration.

Telles is accused of “lying in wait” for German, while wearing an orange reflective vest and a straw hat, before fatally stabbing him outside the reporter’s home on Sept. 2, 2022. Prosecutors have said Telles killed German over articles he wrote about Telles’ conduct as an elected official.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Hamner made several objections throughout Telles’ testimony, stating that Telles was making hearsay statements and giving his opinion. District Judge Michelle Leavitt sustained Hamner’s objections and told Telles to stick to facts and his personal knowledge.

“Your opinions are not really relevant,” Leavitt told Telles. Much of Telles’ testimony concerned an alleged kickback scheme he reported to Las Vegas police when he was the public administrator.

‘Somebody framed me for this’

Telles told the jury he was looking into independent administrators in probate cases regarding property of people who died in Clark County. He alleged that the homes were being flipped for profit, without benefiting the families of the deceased, and that he was “fighting” Compass Realty & Management over the sales.

“Somebody framed me for this, and I believe it’s Compass Realty,” Telles said. “And I believe it’s for the work that I’ve done against them.” Telles has long maintained he was framed for German’s killing. Compass Realty has previously responded to Telles’ allegations in a statement to the Review-Journal.

“Mr. Telles is a desperate man who has been charged with violently murdering a beloved local journalist. It appears he will do and say anything to escape answering for this charge,” the statement read in part. “For Mr. Telles to accuse Compass Realty & Management of anything is unconscionable and irresponsible, and Compass Realty & Management is evaluating its legal options.”

Metropolitan Police Department Detective Derek Jappe testified last week that he investigated both the kickback scheme reported by Telles and accusations that Telles himself was receiving kickbacks. Jappe said he found no evidence that Telles received kickbacks, and the Clark County district attorney’s office determined there was not enough evidence for a prosecution in the alleged scheme Telles reported.

Telles also addressed some of the events after German was killed, including when Roberta Lee-Kennett, the woman he is alleged to have had an “inappropriate relationship” with, texted him a photo of the assailant’s maroon Yukon Denali after the image was released by police on Sept. 6, 2022.

Telles told the jury that the assailant’s car had different rims than his vehicle, and when he saw the image, he thought it was “clearly not my vehicle.” He said he was washing his cars on Sept. 6, 2022, to “take my mind off things.”

He claimed he cut his finger after washing his cars, while preparing school lunch for his daughter. Telles also told the jury that he used scissors in his home to cut off the tip of a superglue bottle, so he could superglue his cut finger. He said he forgot to clean the scissors.

Part of the evidence found in Telles’ home was a pair of scissors that tested positive for blood, with cut-up tennis shoes and cut-up pieces of a straw hat that prosecutors have said match the description of the assailant’s clothing.

The tennis shoes also tested positive for blood.

Narrative testimony

Stewart Bell, a former Clark County district attorney and district judge, told the Review-Journal that the choice to have Telles give narrative testimony may have been made to save time.

“The defendant wants to tell his story,” Bell said, explaining that he could probably do that in less time if his attorney is not asking questions.

Even though he said he has never seen testimony delivered this way in a case where the client is not representing himself, he wasn’t necessarily surprised to see it in Telles’ case. Telles, who once worked as a probate lawyer, previously represented himself in the murder case.

Like Roger, veteran criminal defense attorney Christopher Oram said he has never seen the type of testimony given by Telles, but he added that it shouldn’t affect how Telles will be cross-examined by the prosecution. Under cross-examination, Telles can be made to answer direct questions, Oram said. “He’s not entitled to just give a narrative.”

Additional testimony

Earlier Wednesday, the defense called Nichole Lofton, one of Telles’ former employees at the county office. Lofton testified that she experienced “bullying” after German’s articles were released and that Telles never expressed any anger about the articles to her.

A Planet Fitness manager, Terrence Jamison, testified that the day German was killed, gym records show that Telles checked into the gym near his home at 12:09 p.m. German was attacked shortly after 11:18 a.m., according to Telles’ arrest report.

Former Metro Detective Cliff Mogg testified last week that police captured the assailant’s vehicle in surveillance footage after the attack, until about 11:50 a.m., when it was driving toward Telles’ neighborhood, less than 2 miles from the gym.

On Wednesday morning, defense witness Robert Aguero, who owns a cellphone data analysis company, testified that during August 2022, the month before German was killed, Telles’ phone showed no “media location” data, which is tied to photographs on a phone.

Homicide Detective Justine Gatus has previously testified that over 100 images were found on Telles’ phone, taken at an intersection near German’s house, which she characterized as Telles doing “surveillance.” Under cross-examination, Aguero told Hamner that someone could turn off their location sharing settings to prevent location data from being stored on a phone.

“The power is in the holder of the phone, correct?” the prosecutor asked, raising his voice. “Yes,” Aguero said. Aguero also testified about text messages and calls Telles’ phone received the day German was killed.

Hamner questioned him about the lack of outgoing messages from 8:48 a.m. until 2:05 p.m. Aguero said the majority of the messages Telles received during that time period were automated “junk” messages.

Prosecutors rested their case on Monday, after the jury heard from 28 witnesses over four days of testimony. Draskovich’s questioning and opening statements have focused on portraying Telles as a public official who was trying to expose corruption within the public administrator’s office.

The state’s evidence against Telles includes his DNA found underneath German’s fingernails, and surveillance footage of the assailant’s vehicle that matches the description of a car registered to Telles’ wife. Telles’ testimony is scheduled to continue on Thursday, starting at 10:30 a.m.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Review-Journal staff writer Estelle Atkinson contributed to this report.