(NewsNation) — Convicted killer Scott Peterson attended a court hearing Tuesday about the possibility of getting a new trial.
Peterson was identified as the prime suspect in the death of his wife, Laci, who was eight months pregnant when it was revealed he was having an affair with another woman.
“People have forgotten, it’s been 20 years,” Scott Peterson’s former attorney Mark Geragos said on “Banfield.” “This case was the first time where mitochondrial DNA was used in the California courtroom. Now, we’ve gotten, in 20 years, advanced on what we can do with DNA. I would think that this is the time.
The Los Angeles Innocence Project is reexamining Peterson’s case, and they filed a motion to have items tested for DNA evidence. There are reports of an orange van spotted across the street from Scott and Laci Peterson’s home around the time Laci vanished on Christmas Eve 2002.
The report comes from a former California fire official who claimed he investigated the burned van.
Pictures of the van show it had a mattress in the back, which could contain possible blood or DNA evidence.
Peterson’s family has been working to get him a new trial for years. His sister-in-law Janey Peterson has maintained Scott’s innocence, collecting photos and evidence to build Scott’s timeline. Janey Peterson believes a burglary that happened across the street may have included the van, which was parked outside the Peterson home the day Laci vanished.
Investigators say Scott Peterson dumped Laci’s body during a fishing trip before it was found on the San Francisco shoreline. But his family says the burglars are the ones who placed her there, knowing the fishing trip was Scott Peterson’s only alibi.
NewsNation’s Laura Ingle contributed to this report.