Motions to remove prosecutors and dismiss Maya Millete murder case rejected by judge

Attorneys for Larry Millete, the Chula Vista husband accused of killing his wife May “Maya” Millete, were handed a pair of legal defeats on Thursday by the judge presiding over the case.

The defense had asked Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Enrique Camarena to remove the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office from the case, alleging misconduct by prosecutors and investigators. The defendant, through his attorneys, had also sought to have the case dismissed.

Maya, a mother of three, disappeared in January 2021 and has not been seen since. Her body has never been found, and prosecutors are relying largely on circumstantial evidence in the case against her husband.

The first motion, filed on April 17, claimed that Deputy District Attorney Christy Bowles and others engaged in improper conduct, including presenting false testimony and misinterpreting evidence. If granted, the case would have been handed over to the California Attorney General’s Office, potentially delaying the trial.

Camarena, however, denied the defense’s motion to recuse the DA’s office and DDA Bowles. The judge said the court did not find that any witnesses were untruthful and that the court found no misconduct by the DDA, and that there had been no violation of the defendant’s due process rights.

After a short recess, Camarena returned and also denied a motion to dismiss the case against Millete.

In the motion, defense attorney Liann Sabatini alleged that Bowles “elicited false testimony at the preliminary hearing and admitted evidence that she knew to be illegal.”

Sabatini also claimed that Bowles “was ignoring her prosecutorial duty to correct said lies and thus being complicit in them.”

The filing further alleged that Chula Vista Police Detective Matthew Grindley downplayed the nature of communications between Maya Millete and a man identified as “Jamey,” with whom she was having an affair.

“It was sexual,” Grindley testified. “It was also very emotional. They would talk about a lot of different topics, then just the obvious.”

The trial is scheduled to begin in mid-May.

This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC San Diego. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC San Diego journalist edited the article for publication.