I have worked on many murder cases. This is a case with substantial evidence of guilt. I would put the chance of a conviction of first degree murder at around 95%. Telles’ first lawyer, Ed Kane, is an excellent lawyer. Draskovich is an excellent lawyer. I am told that Telles is very difficult to deal with, and he has unrealistic expectations.
What do you mean by that? We don’t know much about the people we elect to public office. The public knows almost nothing about the people elected to lower profile positions. Look at George Santos. Even with high profile positions, we often don’t know all that much. Look at Edwards who ran for President.
What I mean by that is: just look at him. The severe mental illness is patent in his eyes and face. I did not attend law school with him; but I know people who did. Uniformly, they say he was a weird and mercurial guy. People who knew him after law school but before he became a public official say much the same. I suppose my point was, how did all the red flags not lead to some kind of intervention? It’s a crying shame that German had to pay with his life.
Draskovich’s only regret is the amount of unpaid billables that he is going to have when he straps on his parachute and jumps.
Guest
Anonymous
February 27, 2024 11:45 am
So i hate to keep on with the Telles talk. I’ve kind of been wondering with the local news RJ obsession with keeping this on their front page every day, does Mr. Draskovich have a basis to move for a change of venue under the theory it would be impossible to get an impartial jury due to the non stop negative press attention? If his client is so sure Leavitt is giving him a raw deal this seems like the last hail mary to get a different judge.
I really only remember seeing this in law school as a hypothetical topic,,, and maybe once in action in White Pine County a long time ago. I don’t even remember even seeing it once during my law clerk time.
There is no question that the RJ has a vested interest in this case and they are keeping the conversation alive (“If its bleeds, it leads.”).
Arguably their best investigative reporter in history is the victim and the story involves allegations of public corruption, infidelity (sex) and of course, murder. After the trial takes place, there will 100% be a Netflix documentary and the RJ players and County Employees will all figure prominently therein.
There will never be a venue change and you are correct, the argument should be made because with the publicity, a fair trial is in question. The main arguments against venue change (IMO) is that the RJs readership is way down and your average man on the street has no idea what the County Public Administrator does.
Your comment presumes people actually read the RJ. It was never a great newspaper, but it’s gone drastically downhill since the Adelsons bought it. That said, they’re obviously going to cover every angle of this story. It was their arguably best reporter who was murdered and he was murdered because of his work. It’s an attack on the press who was fighting the good fight against corruption and blah blah. You know the story. I just hope when the Netflix specials and Lifetime movie comes out, Mr. German’s family gets a cut of the proceeds. I sincerely hope they can find some peace and avoid the nonstop coverage of his final moments.
Yes, but the recovery might be minimal. Insurance doesn’t cover murder. My understanding is that he owned a few rental properties, so he may have been financially comfortable-ish, but that isn’t going to go very far. I assume assets have been mostly liquidated by now.
This is such a shitty thing that Rob is doing to his wife and kids. He is going to leave them destitute, draining all of their resources on a lost cause defense. I feel so sorry for them. I wonder if, even if there is a little left, German’s family will take pity on them. Taking money from Rob’s wife and kids is something that obviously doesn’t bother Rob, so a wrongful death lawsuit wouldn’t even register with him emotionally.
I know Rob, and I knew Jeff. Jeff does not have the family proximity that one would expect to bring a wrongful death case and frankly there will be nothing left to chase. This might be a case where once convicted Rob’s wife divorces him and takes what little is left. If Jeff’s family wants to take a judgment against Rob they could in case he ever fell into money but it really would be just a vindicating piece of paper which the conviction would already serve.
Theoretically, a change of venue motion could be meaningful. As a practical matter, the issue will go nowhere, and the Nevada Supreme Court will not care. We’ve had criminal cases where there was substantial prejudicial coverage by the media, and the Supreme Court showed no interest in the matter. (The Zane Floyd mass killing case is a good example).
Guest
Anonymous
February 27, 2024 12:22 pm
Bizarre to me that the state can afford $500 a day in fines and 103 days of incarceration for litigants in need of competency services rather than just investing in appropriate mental health facilities. Maybe CCDC should not be our biggest mental health facility in the state? Maybe it should be doctors, nurses, and shrinks taking care of them instead of cops.
There’s no facility and no money for one, the $500 a day is significantly less than opening and staffing a new institution, assuming they could even find doctors willing to work for what the state pays.
Of course, I agree with you that we need a new facility, it’s just not as easy as putting out a “Walk-ins welcome” sign on a new strip mall law office.
I can see regret in Draskovich’s eyes, he picked up a real stinker. Never be the second lawyer, let alone the fourth or fifth.
https://www.ktnv.com/news/crime-scene-analyst-testifies-ahead-of-robert-telles-trial (like 1:10 into the video)
I’m not a criminal defense lawyer. Is the case a stinker, or is the client?
Yes.
First one, then the other
Don’t think it matters so long as he’s getting paid. I imagine that initial retainer was large. Also, lots of free publicity.
I have worked on many murder cases. This is a case with substantial evidence of guilt. I would put the chance of a conviction of first degree murder at around 95%. Telles’ first lawyer, Ed Kane, is an excellent lawyer. Draskovich is an excellent lawyer. I am told that Telles is very difficult to deal with, and he has unrealistic expectations.
How did people not know about Telles? I mean, just look at him.
What do you mean by that? We don’t know much about the people we elect to public office. The public knows almost nothing about the people elected to lower profile positions. Look at George Santos. Even with high profile positions, we often don’t know all that much. Look at Edwards who ran for President.
What I mean by that is: just look at him. The severe mental illness is patent in his eyes and face. I did not attend law school with him; but I know people who did. Uniformly, they say he was a weird and mercurial guy. People who knew him after law school but before he became a public official say much the same. I suppose my point was, how did all the red flags not lead to some kind of intervention? It’s a crying shame that German had to pay with his life.
Draskovich’s only regret is the amount of unpaid billables that he is going to have when he straps on his parachute and jumps.
So i hate to keep on with the Telles talk. I’ve kind of been wondering with the local news RJ obsession with keeping this on their front page every day, does Mr. Draskovich have a basis to move for a change of venue under the theory it would be impossible to get an impartial jury due to the non stop negative press attention? If his client is so sure Leavitt is giving him a raw deal this seems like the last hail mary to get a different judge.
I really only remember seeing this in law school as a hypothetical topic,,, and maybe once in action in White Pine County a long time ago. I don’t even remember even seeing it once during my law clerk time.
There is no question that the RJ has a vested interest in this case and they are keeping the conversation alive (“If its bleeds, it leads.”).
Arguably their best investigative reporter in history is the victim and the story involves allegations of public corruption, infidelity (sex) and of course, murder. After the trial takes place, there will 100% be a Netflix documentary and the RJ players and County Employees will all figure prominently therein.
There will never be a venue change and you are correct, the argument should be made because with the publicity, a fair trial is in question. The main arguments against venue change (IMO) is that the RJs readership is way down and your average man on the street has no idea what the County Public Administrator does.
Your comment presumes people actually read the RJ. It was never a great newspaper, but it’s gone drastically downhill since the Adelsons bought it. That said, they’re obviously going to cover every angle of this story. It was their arguably best reporter who was murdered and he was murdered because of his work. It’s an attack on the press who was fighting the good fight against corruption and blah blah. You know the story. I just hope when the Netflix specials and Lifetime movie comes out, Mr. German’s family gets a cut of the proceeds. I sincerely hope they can find some peace and avoid the nonstop coverage of his final moments.
Once Telles is convicted, or even if he gets off, couldn’t German’s family go after a wrongful death claim against Telles, like Goldman v OJ?
Yes, but the recovery might be minimal. Insurance doesn’t cover murder. My understanding is that he owned a few rental properties, so he may have been financially comfortable-ish, but that isn’t going to go very far. I assume assets have been mostly liquidated by now.
He has liquidated everything and is spending it all on his defense and leaving his wife with very little.
This is such a shitty thing that Rob is doing to his wife and kids. He is going to leave them destitute, draining all of their resources on a lost cause defense. I feel so sorry for them. I wonder if, even if there is a little left, German’s family will take pity on them. Taking money from Rob’s wife and kids is something that obviously doesn’t bother Rob, so a wrongful death lawsuit wouldn’t even register with him emotionally.
I know Rob, and I knew Jeff. Jeff does not have the family proximity that one would expect to bring a wrongful death case and frankly there will be nothing left to chase. This might be a case where once convicted Rob’s wife divorces him and takes what little is left. If Jeff’s family wants to take a judgment against Rob they could in case he ever fell into money but it really would be just a vindicating piece of paper which the conviction would already serve.
1201pm here
I didn’t presume anything. Might want to read my comment again.
Theoretically, a change of venue motion could be meaningful. As a practical matter, the issue will go nowhere, and the Nevada Supreme Court will not care. We’ve had criminal cases where there was substantial prejudicial coverage by the media, and the Supreme Court showed no interest in the matter. (The Zane Floyd mass killing case is a good example).
Bizarre to me that the state can afford $500 a day in fines and 103 days of incarceration for litigants in need of competency services rather than just investing in appropriate mental health facilities. Maybe CCDC should not be our biggest mental health facility in the state? Maybe it should be doctors, nurses, and shrinks taking care of them instead of cops.
At $500 a day, that’s $365,000 over a biennium. I’d imagine the fine is presently less costly than solving the problem in a timely fashion.
Also not their money, so
There’s no facility and no money for one, the $500 a day is significantly less than opening and staffing a new institution, assuming they could even find doctors willing to work for what the state pays.
Of course, I agree with you that we need a new facility, it’s just not as easy as putting out a “Walk-ins welcome” sign on a new strip mall law office.
Is it $500 per day, or $500 per inmate per day?