A wrongly convicted man achieved a full pardon after 26 years in prison received a full pardon from the governor of the state. This is reported by BBC News.
Donte Sharpe was arrested in 1994 and charged with first-degree murder. A few months after the trial, a witness to the crime retracted her testimony against Sharpe, and from that moment on, a long struggle of an innocent American for release and acquittal on all charges began.
The man fought for justice for almost 30 years, all this time his supported by close relatives and numerous lawyers. In August 2019, Sharpe was released from prison, but this was only the first step towards freedom – the American planned to receive a full pardon from Governor Roy Cooper and filed a corresponding application.
On Friday, November 12, Cooper satisfied the request of the erroneously convicted person and fully pardoned him. Sharpe can now claim compensation from the state. However, the American does not plan to stop there either: the man said that he wants to devote the rest of his life to the struggle for the rights of innocent people who are in prison. He now works for the legal organization Forward Justice and advocates for criminal justice reform in North Carolina.
“My freedom will not be complete as long as there are people unjustly imprisoned, unjustly convicted and awaiting a pardon.” – Sharpe noted.
Earlier it was reported that a teenager from Ghana was in prison by mistake and became a priest while behind bars. Although Maxwell ended up in prison along with real criminals, he managed to keep the faith, and even nurture it.