(NewsNation) — New court dates were set Tuesday for Scott Peterson, the California man convicted in the killings of his pregnant wife Laci Peterson and their unborn child nearly twenty years ago.
Peterson on Tuesday appeared in court remotely from Mule Creek State Prison, while counsel from the LA Innocence Project were there in person, as well as the Stanislaus County District Attorney.
Peterson’s next hearing is set for 9 a.m. April 16 via Zoom. Another hearing over the DNA testing motion is set for the same on May 29.
“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.”
While Peterson was the prime suspect in the investigation, he and his family have maintained his innocence since the beginning. The Los Angeles Innocence Project began looking into his case.
Attorneys say new evidence came to light that could have pointed to other suspects, such as an orange, burned out van spotted near the Petersons’ home around the time Laci Peterson went missing.
Lawyers representing Peterson requested that courts allow DNA testing of cloth from a mattress found in the van as well as testing of the fuel containers that they say helped accelerate the arson fire that torched the van.
In addition, the Los Angeles Innocence Project says there are witnesses who swear they saw Laci Peterson walking around the neighborhood, even after she had already been believed dead by authorities.
Some of these witnesses spoke to police, but many said they never got a call back. Prosecutors, meanwhile, in the trial showed pictures of other pregnant women who lived in the neighborhood with dogs, arguing it was actually them the witnesses saw.