A San Diego County judge denied efforts from Larry Millete’s new defense counsel that would have allowed him to make calls to family members.
Larry is accused of killing his 39-year-old wife, Maya Millete, in January 2021. Her body has never been found. He’s pleaded not guilty. He appeared in the South Bay courthouse in Chula Vista on Monday morning for a status conference. It marked the first court hearing since he switched lawyers last October.
Shortly after Larry’s arrest in October 2021, Judge Dwayne Moring issued a criminal protection order which only allowed Larry to communicate with his children through letters that were first reviewed by a guardian ad litem, which is a court-appointed representative for the children. But prosecutors say Larry forced his parents to let him speak with his kids during phone calls, hundreds of times. In response, Judge Moring widened Larry’s restrictions, allowing only calls to his attorney.
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During this morning’s hearing, defense attorney Liann Sabatini asked the judge to modify the order, saying it was a violation of his 1st amendment rights, equal protection rights and 8th amendment rights.
“It’s not right. It’s completely unconstitutional,” Sabatini said. “What jurisdiction does the court have to order him to speak to people he otherwise wouldn’t be speaking to?”
Deputy District Attorney Christy Bowles argued against that, saying Larry had a track record of violating the order, and disagreeing that the order violated any of his rights.
“The people he wants to communicate with are often in the presence of the children,” Bowles said.
Judge Enrique Camarena sided with Bowles, ruling that no changes be made to the protective order. Camarena also cited an example of Larry’s alleged violation of the order. In that instance, prosecutors say Larry used another inmate’s PIN to make hours of phone calls to his children. The judge says Larry’s calls were also inappropriate, saying that he made references to a disturbing film about prison life, which he instructed his children to watch.
“People that want to talk to him have to go in person,” Judge Camarena explained during this ruling. “So I don’t think the constitution, which has existed well before telephonic communication existed, is necessarily affected here.”
Neither the prosecution nor the defense commented publicly after the hearing, but on her way out, Sabatini told several reporters in the hallway outside the courtroom that in her experience as an attorney, she says she has never seen a court order like the one prohibiting her client from making non-attorney video calls and emails.
The main purpose of the hearing was to check in on Sabatini to see if she was still on track for a trial that’s currently scheduled for August. Sabatini replaced Larry’s other defense attorney, Bonita Martinez, last October. At that time, the trial was pushed back nearly a year to allow the new team to absorb details about the complex case.
Sabatini told the judge that she’d received a hard drive from the district attorney’s office just before Christmas, but said she was awaiting even more evidence. Bowles told the judge that she was having difficulty getting the rest of the evidence from Martinez, but vowed to produce new copies for Sabatini.
Before the hearing was adjourned, the judge set a near status hearing date for Feb. 29.
In addition to pleading not guilty, Larry denied murdering his wife in an exclusive on-camera interview with NBC 7 Investigates. You can watch the entire jailhouse interview here.
