Judge Rejects Millete DA Recusal Bid

A murder trial that has been stalled and fought over for years just cleared one more big obstacle. On April 30, Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Enrique Camarena rejected Larry Millete’s effort to kick prosecutor Christy Bowles — and the entire San Diego County District Attorney’s Office — off the case. He also denied a follow-up defense motion to dismiss the case outright. That matters because the trial over Maya Millete’s disappearance is finally supposed to start on May 11, after a long chain of delays and pretrial fights. (nbcsandiego.com) ### What was the defense trying to do? Larry Millete’s lawyers asked the court to recuse both Bowles and the whole DA’s office, which would have pushed the case to the California Attorney General’s Office instead. The defense argued that prosecutors and investigators engaged in misconduc(nbcsandiego.com)invested to keep handling the case fairly. (nbcsandiego.com) ### Why is recusal a big deal? Because this was not a small procedural complaint. If Camarena had agreed, the prosecution team would have changed right before trial in one of San Diego County’s highest-profile homicide cases. That almost certainly would have meant another delay. Local coverage framed the motion as one that could have pushed the trial back substantially, which is exactly why the hearing mattered so much this week. (nbcsandiego.com) ### Why did the judge say no? Camarena’s ruling was blunt. He said the court did not find that any witnesses were untruthful, did not find misconduct by Bowles, and did not find any violation of Larry Millete’s due-process rights. That cuts through the defense theory at its core — if the(nbcsandiego.com 1)(nbcsandiego.com 2) ### Did anyone else back the DA’s office? Yes — and that mattered. The California Attorney General’s Office sided with the San Diego DA rather than stepping in. In court, a deputy attorney general argued there was no evidence of prosecutorial misconduct and no conflict of interest requiring intervention. So the defense was not just asking for a swap. It was asking for a swap the replacement office itself said was unnecessary. (cbs8.com) ### What is this case actually about? Prosecutors say Larry Millete killed his wife, May “Maya” Millete, after she sought a divorce. Maya disappeared from the family’s Chula Vista home in January 2021 and has never been found. Her body has never been rec(cbs8.com)ry extra weight. (nbcsandiego.com) ### Is the trial really starting now? It looks that way. Jury screening already began in April, with 87 prospective jurors showing up to complete detailed questionnaires, and in-person jury selection is set for May 11. The trial is expected to last about three months. The court has also (nbcsandiego.com)ublicity and juror impartiality. (cbs8.com) ### What changed this week, really? The legal center of gravity shifted away from delay and back toward trial. The defense had already lost a venue-change bid last year, and now it has lost a bid to remove the prosecution team as well. CBS 8 also reported another setback for the defense this week: (cbs8.com)cause the evidence did not sufficiently connect him to the crime. (kpbs.org) ### Bottom line? This ruling does not decide whether Larry Millete is guilty. But it does decide who gets to try the case, and when. After years of motions, postponements, and side battles, the judge just said the prosecution stays, the case stays, and the clock keeps moving toward a jury. (nbcsandi([kpbs.org)/))