Repository Collection 03

State v. Dontae Sharpe

CASE ENTRY

Last Revised • July 11, 2026

This Source Verification Page documents the National Registry of Exonerations case profile for State v. Dontae Sharpe, cited in Claim III of the Supplemental Motion. The case is referenced as an example of a North Carolina conviction later overturned following prosecutorial misconduct, investigative failures, and the subsequent discrediting of forensic and medical evidence.


Related SMAR Citation

“State v. Dontae (Montoyae) Sharp: Pitt Co. Prosecutorial misconduct in handling forensic theory and investigative practices led to vacatur and exoneration.”


Case Name

State v. Dontae Sharpe


Location

Pitt County, North Carolina


Convicted

1995


Exonerated

2019


Verification Source

The National Registry of Exonerations


Source Location

The National Registry of Exonerations


Highlighted Pages

2 - 7


Referenced in the Supplemental Motion

Page 58, Paragraph 121


Source Status

✔ Obtained and reviewed.

✔ Relevant passages highlighted.

✔ Publicly available source.

✔ Included within the Source Verification Archive.


Cited to Support

Lyle C. May alleges that North Carolina courts have granted post-conviction relief in cases involving prosecutorial misconduct, investigative failures, and the suppression of material exculpatory evidence. The Dontae Sharpe case is cited as an example in which suppressed evidence, false or misleading testimony, and later medical and forensic evidence undermined the prosecution's theory of the case, resulting in the vacatur of Sharpe's conviction and his subsequent exoneration. May relies upon Sharpe to illustrate that comparable patterns of official misconduct have warranted post-conviction relief in North Carolina and to support his request for disclosure of evidence related to his Buncombe County prosecution arising from the July 1997 murders in Asheville, North Carolina.


Supporting Documents

Original Article

Link to the original article.

View Website →


Highlighted Research Copy

Working research copy containing the highlighted passages cited in the Supplemental Motion.

View PDF →


Continue Your Research

Return to Claim III

Continue browsing the sources cited throughout Claim III.

Browse Sources →

Return to Source Verification Archive

Return to the main Source Verification Archive and explore additional sections of the Supplemental Motion.

Browse Archive →