CHULA VISTA (CNS) - The extensive publicity and news coverage surrounding Larry Millete -- the Chula Vista man charged with murdering his wife, who has been missing for more than four years after vanishing from her home -- would prevent him from receiving a fair trial if it's held at the Chula Vista courthouse, his defense attorneys argue in a recent court filing.
Attorneys for Millete, who is scheduled to go to trial in January on allegations that he killed May "Maya" Millete argue the media coverage surrounding her disappearance and his criminal case "has obviously influenced public perception" and "poses a significant and unreasonable risk of juror bias."
Attorneys Liann Sabatini and Colby Ryan argue that it would be especially difficult to impanel an impartial jury in Chula Vista, because the size of the population that would be drawn upon for a potential jury pool is not large enough "to dilute adverse publicity."
In what's known as a change of venue motion, Millete's defense team is seeking to have the trial moved to either the Vista or El Cajon courthouse. A hearing on the change of venue motion is scheduled for next week.
"It is obvious that there is an extreme danger that potential jurors in South Bay would, and have already, judged Mr. Millete based on what the media has extensively and rarely accurately detailed about his lifestyle and personality, rather than on his proven acts or anything based on the actual evidence in this case," the motion reads.
Along with the level of news coverage surrounding the case, the defense motion points to an October 2021 news conference held by Chula Vista police and the San Diego County District Attorney's Office shortly after Millete's arrest.
During the news conference, San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan laid out numerous evidentiary details that she said showed Millete murdered his wife, many of which the defense says were misleading, inaccurate, and intended to sway the public into assuming Millete was guilty.
Among those statements were references to home surveillance audio that picked up a series of loud noises in the Millete family's neighborhood on the night May Millete disappeared.
Stephan said the FBI could not confirm whether those noises were gunshots, due to the quality of the recording. Millete's attorneys argue the mere suggestion that the sounds were gunshots has tainted potential jurors and was "an attempt to admit potentially inadmissible evidence as proof of Mr. Millete's guilt, which will be impossible for jurors to forget about and will undoubtedly bias and influence their perspectives of the facts of the case before even entering the courtroom for trial."
Another statement referenced a series of messages Millete allegedly sent to "spell casters" to try and compel May to give up her plans to divorce him. Some of the messages suggested having May incapacitated -- such as sustaining an accident or broken bones -- so she could not leave the home and would depend on Millete, Stephan said.
Stephan stated the messages displayed Millete's "homicidal ideations to harm Mrs. Millete," but the defense argued that none of the messages included a request to kill May, something that was not disclosed during the news conference.
Stephan also noted that she had not previously dealt with spell casting in any case in her career, which the defense said was intended to sensationalize the case, such that "it would be impossible for the consciousness of the South Bay community members to forget or not be biased against Mr. Millete."
They also argue the references to spell casting in news stories covering the case have drawn "negative bias towards Mr. Millete... especially with potential jurors of religious faiths that condemn any acts of spell casting or witchcraft, which will ultimately prevent Mr. Millete from receiving a fair trial in the South Bay."
The defense filing also hints at potential aspects of Millete's defense strategy, including an alleged lack of evidence pointing to a killing happening within the Millete home. The motion states that the investigation has turned up no signs of bullets being fired in the home, no signs of May Millete's blood in the house or Millete's vehicle, and that cadaver dogs brought into the home and Millete's vehicle didn't detect anything.
The filing also states May Millete "had in the past on multiple occasions blocked Mr. Millete, turned off her location, and left Mr. Millete and his children at home, without telling them where she's going to go, only to show up back home at some point several days later."
Millete, 43, remains in jail without bail. He faces up to 25 years to life in state prison if convicted of murder, plus a felony count of possessing an assault weapon.
May Millete has not been seen or heard from since Jan. 7, 2021.
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