Thirty-two-year-old Jason Williford could face the death penalty if he's convicted.
Williford has pleaded not guilty to charges that he raped and beat 62-year-old Taft in March 2010.
Willford was arrested in April 2010 after police say they found DNA evidence on a cigarette butt linking him to the crime.
His attorneys unsuccessfully pleaded with the judge to delay the trial and toss out the DNA evidence -- arguing police should have obtained a search warrant before picking up the evidence.Superior Court Judge Paul Gessner ruled against the defense's motion to suppress the evidence. He also denied a series of motions including a motion to suppress State Bureau of Investigation testing and a motion to make the trial non-capital.
Lawyers for the 32-year-old accused killer questioned a Raleigh Police Department officer's decision to put a glove he used to pick up a cigarette butt into the evidence bag with the butt. They argued that it could have caused "contamination" and was "absurd."
They also added that police should have had a search warrant to pick the butt up, but prosecutors have said the parking lot is considered a public place.
Police have said Williford attacked Taft inside a home on Cartier Lane in the late night hours of March 5 or the early morning hours of March 6. She died at WakeMed a few days later.
The former member of the State Board of Education and her sister were housesitting at the Raleigh home while Taft recovered from a surgery.
Her sister found her bloodied body and lab results revealed the state school board member had been sexually assaulted and had a deep cut on the back of her head.
Police said Williford, a Raleigh musician, lived in an apartment around the corner from the home where Taft was staying when she was attacked.
Taft served on the State School Board for 15 years - the longest tenure of any current member. She also ran unsuccessfully for a state Senate seat in 2008. Prior to that, she served on the the Pitt County Board of Education.
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