NC NAACP, Others Protest Sharpe Pardon Delay at Governor’s Mansion
For the next couple of Fridays, every time Governor Roy Cooper looks out of his front window at the Executive Mansion in Raleigh, he may see demonstrators protesting.
By Cash Michaels –
For the next couple of Fridays, every time Governor Roy Cooper looks out of his front window at the Executive Mansion in Raleigh, he may see demonstrators protesting.
Demonstrators are protesting the long, inexplicable delay in granting Dontae Sharpe a pardon of innocence for a crime he didn’t commit, but was convicted of and spent time behind bars for.
Sharpe, 46, was released from prison, where he had served at least 26 years, in August 2019 after a Pitt County judge ordered a retrial, and a prosecutor decided not to retry the case. Sharpe later filed for a pardon of innocence based on wrongful conviction, which, when granted, would make him eligible for the maximum $750,000 in state-granted compensation.
However, the governor has to grant the pardon first, and he is the only one who can do so.
Gov. Cooper’s spokesperson told reporters that the governor “plans to make decisions on this and other cases by the end of the year,” but Sharpe’s supporters complain two years is too long, especially since he had spent the majority of his life falsely accused and convicted behind bars.
According to a press release from the NC NAACP, “Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman, president of the NC NAACP, began standing vigil in front of the governor’s office (116 W. Jones St.) at noon Wednesday, Sept. 22, and continued through the night. He [was] joined by Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, president of Repairers of the Breach, and other faith leaders.”
North Carolina faith leaders, along with members of Repairers of the Breach, the NC NAACP, and NC Second Chance Alliance held a Freedom Friday spiritual vigil and met with reporters in support of Dontae Sharpe.
“It’s not about me,” Sharpe told reporters. “It’s bigger than me. I didn’t get justice, I haven’t gotten justice, but I do have the truth and they can’t change that.”
Dr. Spearman said, “Without the pardon of innocence, his record still shows and bears the mark of a wrong conviction, and he’s also not entitled to be paid restitution by the state for the 26 years of his life he spent in jail as an innocent man.”
Sharpe was just 19 years old when he was arrested and charged for the 1994 murder of 33-year-old George Radcliffe in Greenville. After his conviction, he was sentenced to life in prison, though he maintained his innocence throughout his long incarceration.
