A North Carolina man who maintained his innocence even as he served a life sentence for a murder he didn't commit was freed Thursday and said he got his strength in prison from God and his mother.
Dontae Sharpe went free after an evidentiary hearing Pitt County court in Greenville, where a judge ordered a new trial. Prosecutors then said they wouldn't seek a retrial, and the 44-year-old Sharpe was released within about an hour, said his attorney, Theresa Newman.
When asked in a phone interview how he maintained his determination to reject offers of a lighter sentence in exchange for a guilty plea, Sharpe said: "My faith, knowing I was innocent and the way I was raised. My momma always told me if you didn't do something, don't own up to it. Don't say you did it." He said his faith provided the "positivity to help me when I was around all that negativity."
Dontae Sharpe enters a Pitt County courtroom to the cheers of his family after a judge determined he could be set free on a $100,000 unsecured bond on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2019 in Greenville, N.C. Sharpe, a North Carolina man who maintained his innocence even as he served a life sentence for a murder he didn’t commit said Thursday that he got his strength in prison from God and his mother. (Deborah GriffinThe Daily Reflector via AP)
Sharpe was convicted of murder in 1995 in the death of 33-year-old George Radcliffe in a drug deal a year earlier. His repeated attempts to get a new trial failed, including a motion for appropriate relief that a judge rejected in 2016, Newman said.
The difference this time around was the testimony of former state medical examiner M.G.F. Gilliland, the attorney said. Gilliland testified at an evidentiary hearing in May that the state's theory of the shooting was not medically or scientifically possible. After that testimony, the judge ordered Thursday's hearing to hear more evidence.
"It was a too-long journey for Dontae Sharpe," said Newman, co-director of Duke University's Wrongful Convictions Clinic. "We can lament that at some point, but right now, it's a time of great joy to restore him to his family and his community."
Dontae Sharpe's mother, Sarah Blakley, hugs family and friends in celebration of a judge's ruling Thursday, Aug. 22, 2019 in Greenville, N.C. Sharpe, a North Carolina man who maintained his innocence even as he served a life sentence for a murder he didn’t commit said Thursday that he got his strength in prison from God and his mother. (Deborah GriffinThe Daily Reflector via AP)
Sharpe's mother, Sarah Blakely, kept his case in the spotlight with the help of the NAACP. Blakely said she was feeling joy and she was "relieved it's all over. Justice was served."
The Rev. William Barber, who was president of the state chapter of the NAACP when the organization took up Sharpe's case, said racism and poverty contributed to Sharpe's conviction despite the lack of physical evidence.
"It was the racism within the system that said basically, any black man will do," said Barber, who's now co-director of the president of Repairers of the Breach and co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign. And Sharpe's family couldn't afford the "powerhouse attorney" needed to fight the charge, he said.
Sharpe's conviction relied partially on the testimony of a woman who said she saw Sharpe kill Radcliffe. Charlene Johnson Frazier, who was 15 when she testified, later recanted. She testified again Thursday.
Gilliland also testified again Thursday, saying Radcliffe was shot in the side. His killer could not have been standing in front of him, as Frazier testified at Sharpe's trial, she said.
Sharpe said he plans to spend time with his family, including his daughter, two grandchildren and nieces and nephews. "I'm going to take a breath right now and gather myself," he said. "I'm feeling shocked a little bit."
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TOKYO (AP) — The American envoy to the United Nations called Friday for countries armed with atomic weapons to pursue nuclear disarmament as she visited the atomic bomb museum in Nagasaki, Japan.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who became the first U.S. cabinet member to visit Nagasaki, stressed the importance of dialogue and diplomacy amid a growing nuclear threat in the region.
“We must continue to work together to create an environment for nuclear disarmament. We must continue to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons in every corner of the world,” she said after a tour of the atomic bomb museum.
“For those of us who already have those weapons, we must pursue arms control. We can and must work to ensure that Nagasaki is the last place to ever experience the horror of nuclear weapons,” she added, standing in front of colorful hanging origami cranes, a symbol of peace.
The United States dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, destroying the city and killing 140,000 people. A second attack three days later on Nagasaki killed 70,000 more people. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, ending World War II and its nearly half-century of aggression in Asia.
Nagasaki Gov. Kengo Oishi said in a statement that he believed Thomas-Greenfield's visit and her first-person experience at the museum “will be a strong message in promoting momentum of nuclear disarmament for the international society at a time the world faces a severe environment surrounding atomic weapons.”
Oishi said he conveyed to the ambassador the increasingly important role of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in emphasizing the need of nuclear disarmament.
Thomas-Greenfield's visit to Japan comes on the heels of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's official visit to the United States last week and is aimed at deepening Washington's trilateral ties with Tokyo and Seoul. During her visit to South Korea earlier this week, she held talks with South Korean officials, met with defectors from North Korea and visited the demilitarized zone.
The ambassador said the United States is looking into setting up a new mechanism for monitoring North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Russia and China have thwarted U.S.-led efforts to step up U.N. sanctions on North Korea over its ballistic missile testing since 2022, underscoring a deepening divide between permanent Security Council members over Russia’s war on Ukraine.
She said it would be “optimal” to launch the new system next month, though it is uncertain if that is possible.
The U.N. Security Council established a committee to monitor sanctions, and the mandate for its panel of experts to investigate violations had been renewed for 14 years until last month, when Russia vetoed another renewal.
In its most recent report, the panel of experts said it is investigating 58 suspected North Korean cyberattacks between 2017 and 2023 valued at approximately $3 billion, with the money reportedly being used to help fund its weapons development.
The United States, Japan and South Korea have been deepening security ties amid growing tension in the region from North Korea and China.
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, shake hands during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, shake hands during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, right, speaks to Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, second right, as they wait for a meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, right, walk to meet Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, talk prior to a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, prepare to talk during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
