CHULA VISTA (KGTV) — NOTE: This page will be updated throughout the day.
3:15 p.m. — Clinical and forensic psychologist Dr. David Wexler took the stand on Wednesday afternoon.
Wexler testified as a domestic violence expert for the prosecution.
Wexler is the founder and executive director of The Relationship Training Institute, a clinical training and domestic violence prevention organization.
The institute provides a domestic violence training program that is used globally to treat domestic violence abusers. It's the standard program used across the U.S. military branches, including the Navy.
Wexler testified about the Power and Control Wheel, which he says is a diagram created by the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project that shows how abusers can behave and try to control their victims.
Prosecutors asked him if hiring spellcasters, using subliminal messages, and asking for a spouse to be hurt, incapacitated, or have a broken bone would fall under the Power and Control Wheel.
Wexler testified that the behavior did qualify and described those actions as "desperate acts of control" from someone who is "terrified" of losing their partner.
12:00 p.m. — Richard Drouaillet, Maya Millete's brother-in-law, is allowed to stay in the courtroom for now, after accusations that he made gestures to Larry Millete.
After reviewing the court surveillance camera, Judge Camarena said the bailiffs found nothing concrete.
Camarena issued Drouaillet a final warning about the alleged behavior and said he'll be kicked out if it happens again. Judge Camarena said it's the third accusation made against Drouaillet, noting he'd talked to him about the behavior before.
Drouaillet said he understood but accused Larry Millete of looking at him as well.
11:30 a.m. — After the morning break, without jurors in the courtroom, Larry’s defense team asked the judge to kick Maya’s brother-in-law, Richard Drouaillet, out of the courtroom.
Defense attorney Liann Sabatini accused Drouaillet of looking at Larry, making a gesture and grimacing as he was exiting the courtroom for the scheduled break.
His wife, Maricris—Maya’s sister—testified earlier in the trial.
Sabatini said this is the third time during the trial that Drouaillet has done something similar, saying the behavior is “edging on intimidation.”
She said one of Larry’s family friends also witnessed and confirmed the behavior. Sabatini said she hadn’t brought up Drouaillet’s behavior before in hopes that it would stop. She accused Drouaillet of flipping Larry off on a separate occasion.
Judge Enrique Camarena asked the bailiffs and the prosecution if they had witnessed the alleged behavior. They said they had not.
Drouaillet wasn’t present in the courtroom at the time the accusation was made, but he walked in as the prosecution, the defense and judge were discussing the issue.
Judge Camarena ordered the court bailiffs to look at the courtroom’s surveillance camera footage to see if anything was captured and said he’d make a decision after they reviewed the footage.
10:30 a.m. — A district attorney investigator and one of Maya Millete’s close co-workers took the stand Wednesday morning in the Larry Millete murder trial.
Xanthe Rosario was previously a Chula Vista police detective during the time Maya went missing. As other investigators have testified, she said she reviewed video from Jan .7, 2021 that showed Maya going in and out of her home. She never saw her in video after that day.
During cross-examination, Rosario said she reviewed Larry’s cell phone that showed he sent several text messages to Maya from January 9 to January 27.
Maya’s friend from work was the second person to take the stand. Courtney Nixon said Maya was one of her best friends and went to concerts, the beach and happy hours together. Even after Nixon moved away overseas, she said she communicated with Maya daily. Maya even visited her in Italy with her daughters in 2019.
Nixon said they had a “work besties” group chat with two other co-workers. In 2020, Nixon said she started to have conversations with Maya about her marital issues. “She confided in me plenty of times,” Nixon said.
Sometime that year, she got blocked on Facebook Messenger. Maya told her that Larry was the one who blocked her and that he’s blocked other people.
She said that Maya felt guilty about wanting to leave Larry and was also worried about her kids. Nixon read messages from Maya about Larry, including one that said, “If I go through with this, I’m breaking three little hearts and that’s soul shattering.”
