Civil rights advocates name for computerized pardons for these exonerated in NC :: WRAL.com

Civil rights activists gathered at the State Capitol Friday to call on Governor Roy Cooper to pardon a Greenville man who served 24 years in prison before his murder conviction was overturned.

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THIS IS, OF COURSE, A DEVELOPMENT STORY FROM WEST HOUSTON. WE FOLLOW HIM HERE IN THE WRAL LIVE CENTER. >>> THANK YOU FOR THE UPDATE. NOW, LOCAL CIVIL ACTIVISTS ARE BUILDING IN STATE CAPITAL TO GET A FULL PEGIANT FOR DANTE SHARP. He is the Pitt County man who was released in 2019 after serving nearly 25 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. WRALS BRYAN MIMS IS IN DOWNTOWN RALEIGH WHERE HE JUST TALKED TO BRIAN? >> Reporter: SHARP JOINS REVEREND WILLIAM BARBER AND OTHERS SUPPORT TO CALL THE GOVERNOR TO GIVE HIM A FULL PAY AFTER THE NEWS CONFERENCE HERE ON THE REASON OF THE STATE AUTHORITIES TO THE HEAD OF THE MAIN Petition OF THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE, HERE’S A VIDEO FROM YOUR MARCH TO THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE, DONTAE SHARPE ALWAYS PRESERVED INNOCENCE IN THE MURDER OF GEORGE RADCLIFFE IN 1994, OVER THE YEARS HE TRIED, BUT TRIED AGAIN., THEN IN AUGUST 2019, A JUDGE ELECTED HIM A NEW PROCEEDING BUT THE PITT COUNTY STATE LAWYERS SAID THAT WITHOUT EVIDENCE OR FORENSIC EVIDENCE, THEY WOULD NOT PROCEED HIM AGAIN. AND HAS GRANTED HIS FREEDOM. NOW, HE CALLS FOR FULL PAY FROM GOVERNOR ROY COOPER, AND HIS LAWYERS SAY THEY WOULD REMOVE OBSTACLES IN WORK AND HOUSING AND GIVE HIM COMPENSATION. HE talked about everything he missed after a quarter of a century in prison and the struggle he was waging for his freedom. WE ALL HAVE WHAT WE WERE INTENDED, WE HAVE IMPLEMENTED THE SYSTEM HOW THEY HAVE SET UP THE SYSTEM, YOU MUST SUBMIT COMPLAINTS, WALK UP AND DOWN IN FRONT OF THE COURT SYSTEM UNTIL IT IS UNLOADED. WHEN THEY ARE UNLOADED, THEY SHOULD BE PAID, THESE ARE ACTUALLY OTHER STATES THAT AUTOMATIC PAYMENTS WILL COME AFTER THEY ARE UNLOADED. NORTH CAROLINA is NOT one of them. >> Reporter: REVEREND BARBER SAID, SHARPS PARDON HAS BEEN REVIEWED SINCE 2019. HE WOULD LIKE THE GOVERNOR TO MEET WITH THE SHARPE FAMILY AND THE JOURNEY LEADERS TO DISCUSS HOW TO PROTECT PEOPLE WHO ARE REMOVED, PEOPLE WHO CHEAT ACCIDENTALLY, STRENGTHEN. BARBER AND OTHERS ALSO ARE PUSHING FOR LEGISLATION THAT WOULD MAKE A GOVERNOR’S PARDON AUTOMATICALLY FOR EVERYONE WHO IS RELEASED, JEFF? >> EVEN THE JUDGE SAID TO ORDER