A Las Vegas attorney weighed in as the start of the trial of the former Las Vegas-area politician accused of killing an investigative journalist began on Monday with jury selection.

Robert Telles, a former Democrat Clark County administrator of estates, has remained jailed since his arrest in September 2022, days after Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German was found slashed and stabbed to death outside his home over Labor Day weekend. 

Marc Randazza, a Las Vegas attorney, spoke to Fox News Digital and said that while he did not know Telles personally, he sensed something was off.

“I would not claim to know Telles, but I have been to dinner parties where he was also a guest,” Randazza said. “Never really sensed that he was capable of such a thing, although I always found him a bit odd. But in a lot of ways, one has to be a bit odd to be ‘normal’ in Las Vegas, something I say with pride.”

JURY SELECTION BEGINS MONDAY FOR FORMER LAS VEGAS-AREA POLITICIAN ACCUSED OF KILLING INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST

Robert Telles washes his car outside his Las Vegas home on Sept. 6, 2022. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)

German, 69, was found slashed and stabbed to death in a side yard outside his home, where Telles is accused in a criminal complaint of “lying in wait” for German to come outside.

Prosecutors say articles that German wrote in early 2022 about Telles and a county office in turmoil were a motive for the killing.

Randazza said this case has an interesting angle involving the First Amendment, which he says is the firm’s primary interest in the matter and which really is the only part of it that has far-reaching implications beyond mere fascination with true crime.

“As part of the investigation and prosecution, the Las Vegas Metro Police Department obtained German’s journalistic papers and notes, including those on his cellphone. The Las Vegas Review-Journal, the reporter’s employer, sought to prevent the police and the prosecution from reviewing his devices and papers, citing Nevada’s news shield statute,” Randazza said.

“Journalists generally have a privilege against the disclosure of their papers, which might also include information about their sources for information, under the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of the press. The Nevada Supreme Court found that the privilege does not die with the reporter and protected the information from direct disclosure to the government. Ultimately, the Review-Journal and the prosecution reached a deal where German’s devices could be reviewed by a third party to screen confidential information.”

Telles became a lawyer in 2015 and ran as a Democrat in 2018 to become Clark County administrator of estates. He lost his elected position after his arrest and his law license was suspended. He has pleaded not guilty to open murder and could face life in prison if convicted. He has remained jailed while preparing to face a jury.

NEVADA JUDGE POSTPONES TRIAL OF FORMER LAS VEGAS OFFICIAL ACCUSED OF KILLING JOURNALIST

Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles, right, talks to Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German on May 11, 2022. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)

Randazza criticized Telles’ choice to originally represent himself.

“He has waffled between being represented and representing himself. Representing himself was one of the most foolish things I’ve ever seen someone do in court, but it is his constitutional right. However, it appears that he has retained counsel again,” Randazza said.

Robert Draskovich, Telles’ defense attorney, said that Telles has “been looking forward to trial and wants to tell his story,” the Associated Press reported.

Prosecutors say they have strong evidence, including DNA believed to be from Telles found beneath German’s fingernails and cut-up pieces of a straw hat and shoes found at Telles’ house that resembled those worn by the person seen on video outside German’s home. 

However, Randazza again criticized Telles’ approach and his defense strategy.

“His ‘I didn’t do it’ defense seems like a poor strategy. There are other defenses other than ‘Must be some other guy who looked like me and who had all this evidence in his house,’” Randazza said.

FORMER VEGAS OFFICIAL WHO ALLEGEDLY SLAYED AN INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST LOSES BID TO GET NEW JUDGE

Robert Telles (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service)

In a court filing, Telles maintains he was illegally detained by police before his arrest, officer body-worn camera video of the traffic stop during which he was taken into custody was improperly deleted, and hospital blood tests taken after his arrest and treatment for what he has called self-inflicted slash wounds to his wrists were not included as evidence in his case.

Clark County District Court Judge Michelle Leavitt rejected other requests to dismiss the case, while Telles hired and fired attorneys and served as his own defense lawyer. Telles twice tried to have Leavitt removed from his case, arguing she was biased against him.

“He seems to believe that Judge Leavitt is biased against him and has tried to get [her] recused. This is rarely a strong play, and it has not worked thus far. For what it’s worth, I think that when it comes to a judge with integrity, you can probably find equals with Leavitt, but you’re not going to find anyone who outranks her in the integrity competition,” Randazza said.

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Telles wanted his trial to occur quickly, but progress was delayed in part by a legal battle the Review-Journal took to the state Supreme Court to protect public disclosure of confidential sources on German’s cellphone and computers. The newspaper argued that names and unpublished material were protected from disclosure by the First Amendment and Nevada state law.

Police argued their investigation would not be complete until the devices were searched for possible evidence. The court gave the newspaper, its lawyers and consultants time to review the files first.

Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace and the Associated Press contributed to this report. 

A growing and untamed wildfire that broke out Sunday is threatening at least 150 homes outside of Verdi, a small town northwest of Reno in Washoe County.

Known as the Gold Ranch Fire, it’s burning 650 acres and was not contained at all as of 3:30 p.m. on Monday, according to the Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District. The Federal Emergency Management Agency granted emergency funding to fight the fire.

Gov. Joe Lombardo said in a statement on X that his office is monitoring the situation and that he’s “grateful for (Nevada’s) collaborative approach.”

Washoe County issued evacuation orders near Interstate 80 on the Nevada-California border, which remained partially closed Monday afternoon. Verdi Elementary School also canceled class Monday.

The Northwest Reno Library at 2325 Robb Drive is where officials directed evacuees, overseen by the American Red Cross.

NV Energy shut off lines near the fire Sunday to avoid boosting the wildfire, leaving 6,300 people in the area without power. Customers should expect to be without power until at least noon Tuesday, the utility said on X.

Air quality in the Reno area dipped into the unhealthy range on Monday, and National Weather Service officials issued a red flag warning for western Nevada and northeastern California, warning of the potential for further fires.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Contact Alan Halaly at ahalaly@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlanHalaly on X.

LAS VEGAS (KTNV — A Las Vegas Valley student will get to kick off the new school year with the field trip of a lifetime.

I spoke with local 8th grader Amelie, who is one of 75 first place awardees in a new nationwide scholastic contest called “America’s Field Trip.” She’s also the only first place winner from Nevada!

The contest asked students across the country to submit a video of them responding to the question, “What does America mean to you?” It challenged students to think critically about our nation’s journey to becoming a more perfect union.

In her video, Amelie spoke about the need to make public spaces and architecture more welcoming to people from all walks of life, and to encourage more face-to-face connection and conversation. She says people often feel empowered to say hateful things behind the shield of screens and that we need more in-person discussions with our peers to truly understand one another and to be able to empathize.

“If we’re all stuck in our houses being online, anonymous behind our usernames, we can’t really talk about our issues as well as if we’re in a park, maybe connecting over a conversation you can’t just log off of,” Amelie said.

What really stood out to me was when she told me that kids are definitely taking notice of the political polarization our country is dealing with. In fact, she said she’s seeing fellow students actually mimic the behavior of adults in this incredibly volatile political climate and election cycle.

“Do you think the same divisiveness we’re seeing in adults on both sides of the aisle is even trickling down to young people right now?” I asked Amelie.

“Yes of course, even in my school, there was political debate practically about what kids knew, and I noticed there were little spouts of things that might not exactly be too accurate going on in these conversations. And these conversations are ultimately what will shape our political standing,” Amelie responded.

She and the other contest winners were selected by a panel of current and former educators. It was actually an educator in Amelie’s life, Miss Rush, who encouraged her to enter the contest.

If your child may be interested, another America’s Field Trip contest for the 2024-2025 school year will begin around September. You can sign up for updates here.

For winning, Amelie will get to go on a field trip to Washington, D.C. That’ll include a visit to the National Archives, and she tells me she can’t wait to dig into our country’s history. It’s really the perfect place to reflect on what America means to her.