Telles’ second request to recuse judge in murder case denied

Robert Telles’ second campaign to remove the judge overseeing his murder case in the killing of a Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter has been denied.

Telles, 47, is accused of attacking and fatally stabbing Jeff German outside of the journalist’s home in September 2022 over articles German had written about Telles’ conduct as an elected official.

Telles, the ousted Clark County public administrator who has been representing himself against a murder charge, filed a motion in December asking for District Judge Michelle Leavitt to be removed from his case, and accusing her of bias and “deep-seated favoritism” against him.

Chief District Judge Jerry Wiese entered a strongly worded order on Wednesday denying Telles’ motion, stating that Telles failed to “identify a single statement or extra-judicial act by Judge Leavitt that indicates any degree of bias whatsoever.”

“To the extent that Mr. Telles disagrees with Judge Leavitt’s decisions and rulings, he can appeal them,” Wiese wrote. “However, filing successive Motions to Disqualify is not the proper process.”

Telles now wants to go to trial in March, his new lawyer said Thursday, according to an Associated Press report.

Robert Draskovich, a criminal defense attorney who has handled several high-profile cases during more than 25 years in practice, told The Associated Press that Telles has hired him to represent him at trial, currently set to start March 18.

“We anticipate keeping the current trial date,” Draskovich said.

Gary Modafferi, another lawyer who has advised Telles on pretrial matters, declined Thursday to comment.

Telles filed a similar motion in March, which Wiese also denied. Telles claimed that since then, Leavitt has shown bias against him during court proceedings.

Wiese noted that Leavitt tried to accommodate Telles’ requests to receive evidence from police and prosecutors, which “contradicts” Telles’ claims that she “unlawfully declined to order the production of documents and colluded with the district attorney’s office.”