MINOT, N.D. (KXNET) — Just short of a year after Nichole Rice’s arrest for the murder of Anita Knutson, Rice’s pretrial conference has been pushed back once again.

It is now set for June 14 of this year.

The last time Rice appeared before a Judge was on September 8, 2022, at her preliminary hearing, where she pleaded not guilty to the AA felony murder.

The courts have agreed to continue Rice’s pretrial conference because of ongoing discovery and the amount of evidence being submitted.

The pretrial conference normally sets trial dates, admits evidence, and sets the size of the jury pool.

District Judge Richard Hager signed off on the continuance and stated the victim’s family members are approved to appear via Zoom for the conference.

We have reached out to Rice’s defense team at Sand Law PLLC for a comment, and they have not responded.