Judge denies request to remove judge in Robert Telles murder case

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - Murder suspect Robert Telles tried and failed to get a judge in his upcoming trial booted from the case. He appeared in front of Judge Jerry Wiese Thursday.

Telles, a former Public Administrator, said the court system is a place to get justice while being treated impartially. Telles criticized Clark County District Judge Michelle Leavitt for antagonizing him during a hearing where he was asked to represent himself in his upcoming murder trial. Judge Leavitt allowed that but grilled Telles about his knowledge of trials. Telles was not able to answer some basic questions and the judge didn’t think it was in his best interest to represent himself. In court, Thursday Telles said Judge Leavitt lied when she told him if he went down the road of self-representation he could never come back.

“After she made that representation, she spent about 40 minutes or so badgering me, harassing me and trying to embarrass me into withdrawing my request for self-representation,” said Telles.

Judge Wiese denied the request and said he didn’t see a problem in how Judge Leavitt treated Telles. He said Judge Leavitt has been hearing cases for a long time and said she knows what she’s doing.

Telles is accused of murdering longtime Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German, who reported on alleged problems in the former office of Robert Telles. Telles denies killing German.

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