Victims and members of the public packed a Sacramento courtroom Wednesday to see whether the case against Joseph James DeAngelo — the man accused of being The Golden State Killer — would progress.

The hearing, which lasted less than 25 minutes, ended with applause as Sacramento Superior Court Judge Steve White ordered that the hearing be scheduled for May 12, agreeing with prosecutors that aging witnesses were due their day in court and that further delays could hinder the trial.

DeAngelo, a 74-year-old former police officer, was arrested in April 2018 after his DNA — obtained by authorities from a swab of his car door handle — matched the DNA taken from victim Charlene Smith, a Ventura County resident who was murdered and raped. Hers was one of 13 murders for which DeAngelo will stand trial, a total of 26 counts that also include kidnapping. The statute of limitations has already expired on the dozens of rape cases in which he is accused.

The prolific serial killer was called many names during a decade-long crime spree in the late '70s, when he terrorized communities across California. He was the East Area Rapist, possibly the Cordova Cat Killer, the Original Night Stalker, and the Visalia Ransacker, and is believed to have committed dozens of murders and more than 50 rapes, in six different counties.

Now closing in on two years since DeAngelo’s arrest — 40 years since the crime spree for which he is accused began — members of his defense team argued that they needed more time to comb through the roughly quarter million documents, including photographs, audio and DNA samples that prosecutors have gathered to make their case against their client. Public defenders Alice Michel and Joseph Cress said it could take them until the end of this year to adequately prepare for the trial.

Initially arraigned on only two murder charges for crimes in Sacramento, district attorneys from the five other counties joined the case and will seek the death penalty if DeAngleo is convicted. California does not perform executions after Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered a moratorium in March of last year, but capital punishment convictions were not affected. Executions could resume if future governors overturn the Newsom’s decision.

In what may end up being the biggest and most complex case to go to trial in California history, based on the scope of the charges and evidence collected, the public defenders argued that their resources were far more limited than that of the coalition of D.A. offices — from Contra Costa, Orange, Sacramento, Santa Barbara, Tulare and Ventura counties — which plans to call 150 witnesses over eight to 10 weeks.

"I get the resource issue you are talking about," White responded, adding that with the exception of the O.J. Simpson case, prosecutors often have the upper-hand on funding and staffing. But he ultimately agreed with prosecutors' concerns about how delays could impact witnesses, many of whom are between the ages of 70 and 90 years old.

“There cannot be a case that is too big to go to trial," White said.