welcome to bbc news. i'm david eades. our top stories: the biden administration has announced it will not be sending any diplomatic or other official us representation to the beijing winter olympic games in february next year. the white house press secretary says the decision had been taken in the light of china's women rights abuses. new york's mess is all private sector workers in the city must be vaccinated against the coronavirus in the strictest vaccine mandate to be imposed anywhere in the us. city employees are already required to be vaccinated. this latest rule will come into effect on december 27. the trial in new york for sex trafficking, the witness said the defendant told him to collect two underage girls and take them to the underage —— the house of jeffrey epstein. ms maxwell

pleaded not guilty of the charges against her. now on bbc news, 26 years in a us prison in north carolina for a murder he didn't commit. we follow him as he demands justice. people really don't know how going to prison for something you didn't do, a crime you didn't commit, especially for a long, long time... ..what it does to a person. i was accused of killing a white man in a drug deal gone bad. this is a case they're going to be teaching in law school 100 years from now. what could dante have become?

it was a travesty ofjustice. it took 26 years to make it partially right. i was exonerated on august 22, 2019. a lot of people think the ultimate goal is just getting exonerated and getting out of prison, getting your freedom back. it's a lot more than that. sometimes i wake up just crying. i just cry. people think that when you get exonerated, the fight is over. it'sjust beginning, really. i haven't been pardoned. governor roy cooper, for some reason, hasn't pardoned me. he's asking for the state of north carolina to acknowledge the wrong and give him what is due under the constitution. they buried this man alive! you're looking at a miracle. there was never an intention for him — to be standing here today. we need to see what he can still become. can i get my pardon?

can i get my freedom? something that was given to me by god that you mistakenly took from me? hey, how are you doing? all right, all right? right here, the police pulled up right here. this exact spot, right here. they jump out. "what's up, man? " and they were like, "dontae, we've got a warrant." i said, "a warrant for what?" he said, "murder." i said, "murder? man, y'all tripping, man. :y�*all cray." i said, "don't worry, i didn't do nothing." like this, slapped them handcuffs on me. that was the last time. that was the last time i was outside. this is where i got locked up at. i remember the first day i pulled up to the prison. then that gate, zshhh—boom.

then you hear them razor wires shake. ding—ding—ding—ding. i was in there so long, from a teenager to 44 years old. it was like every time i closed my eyes, i see a long tunnel with a little dot, pinprick at the end. and i'd be, like, "man, am i still in prison?" i couldn't sleep. my mind was running, my mind was racing, like, "you got a life sentence for something you didn't... "you're in prison." it's part torture, mental anguish, fear. and the fear is one of the great ones. you fear never getting out. i was accused of killing a white man in a drug deal gone bad. mr george radcliffe. now, that investigation was like no other. it was a couple of guys shooting and stuff that went on in the area,

but when a white guy got killed, you couldn't walk down the street, you couldn't stop. isaid, "man, whoever they lock up for that through." that's what i said. because racism was so strong in greenville. they was looking for... ..investigating for two months before they locked on me. this was a high—profile case. it was a white man who was killed in a black neighbourhood known for drugs at that time. it was all over the news. there was a lot of pressure to get somebody for this murder. i heard so many stories that they wanted me for drugs. they said i was a big—time, known drug dealer. i was known, a lot of people know me, but whatever reason it was, you've got the wrong man. this is something that's sort of well known in reviews of innocence cases.

when you have a white victim who, tragically, is harmed, we see greater penalties associated and we see greater instances of wrongful convictions related to those crimes. dontae being a black man in greenville, north carolina in the 1990s was central to why he was convicted and central to why his conviction was not overturned sooner. every time i went to court, it was a white man over me, i was in a black—and—white case. racism was part of the reason why they went so hard — they tried to solve it and get somebody and it happened to be a black and a white. it wasn't until trial that he knew what the evidence was that was going to be

used against him. no physical evidence, no fingerprints, no hairfibre, no nothing. not of me. not mine... nothing. nothing on the scene, period. the primary witness that the district attorney put forward was a 15—year—old girl. her name was charlenejohnson. almost immediately following the trial, charlene came forward and recanted. she told the state that she was nowhere near this murder scene and that she had made up what she said at trial. a young lady came forward and said that her boyfriend had came home and told her that... ..he had shot a white man across town in a truck and that he wasn't going to prison for killing a white man. he said that for 20—something days, and then he killed himself with a gun, i guess.

committed suicide. that was never heard by a jury, again, based on a technicality. the court could have allowed that testimony in. the court did not. i guess they didn't believe it, you know? or didn't want to believe it. i don't know, you know? i think this is 1998. think i had been locked up then, like, three years, i had heard from somebody that if you've got a picture of something in your mind that you want and you can look at it every day, if you can see it and believe it, you can get it.

so i took the picture and wrote this on a picture and put it up on my mirror, and every day i looked at it and said, "i'm free. i'm free." that's what this picture was for. i had to make a wilful choice — was i going to act like a lifer or was i going to grow up, mature and use the situation to better myself? and the first step i did was getting a bible. i used to read, every day, one scripture, one verse. i would deliver him and honour him because he set his love upon me and with long life would i satisfy him. so he would deliver me, deliver my...here first and then deliver me out of prison, but i had to set my love, i had to love, and that's what i did. it wasjuly 17, 1994, the day she was born. i was in the countyjail.

they announced over the intercom, "dontae sharpe is the proud father of a baby girl." my name is imani carmen. i am 27 years old. dontae is my dad. when i was younger, they told me he was injail for something that he didn't do. he had got life. we didn't have a bond, you know, with him being injail. i wasn't given a chance with him and i don't really know why. iwas, like, "for something i didn't do. "i'm not going to be there." i told my momma i wanted to better myself. i said, "i'm—a do everything in here that i wouldn't do "or didn't think was important in the world." i went all—out in everything i did. my mum probably missed four visits in 26 years.

dontae needed me then. you know, ifeel like he really...he needed me. i didn't want to miss visits. it was already bad enough being in prison for something you didn't do, and i felt like, what kind of mother would i be if i didn't go see my son? he would wave, and that wave used to destroy me. you know, they don't realise how much damage they do... ..toa family. i never dreamed it would be 26 years. i thought i had got over the tears. sniffs i guess i hadn't.

i met dontae as a duke law student. i had started in the wrongful convictions clinic and, as a part of the clinic, you are assigned a client. when i first met him, he would've already been in prison for 16 years. in dontae's case, he received offers of plea deals throughout his time of incarceration, and at each turn along the way, he declined because the plea deal required him to say that he had done something that he had not done, to admit to a crime that he was not guilty of. some innocent people have been coerced, have been tricked, have been scared into it, and some just got tired and took a plea bargain, said they did something they didn't do, and i never could understand them. he was saying, "i am not going to allow this system

"to break a part of me that is still mine, "and that is my truth, my integrity, my dignity." and while i completely stand with that, the reality of seeing him have to do that over and over again while the system failed, it... it broke me. you're hurting and you're losing faith and hope in humanity. sometimes. . .i just hollered out sometimes. i'd just be, like... he screams "god!" isaid, "man, nothing, man. nothing, man." all: free dontae sharpe! this morning, i come out for my son, montoya dontae sharpe. first, there was- no physical evidence. secondly, there were l false witness accounts. there were likely— alternative suspects ignored and not pursued, _

so while dontae was locked up, the real killer was still- walking around greenville. it was a travesty of justice and it took 26 years to make it partially right. the day that dontae got released was in greenville. it was, you know, in his hometown. his whole family was there. theresa newman and spencer parris, who put on that case, did a phenomenaljob presenting the evidence. do you solemnly swear the testimony given to the court in this session shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you god? charlenejohnson, she testified again in front ofjudge

collins, and she said, "i've been trying to make this right. " you could hear, in the courtroom, a pin drop. people knew that this was an incredibly important moment.

there was no way for the crime to have physically happened the way that the state said it was, that it was a physical impossibility. to me, this is sort of the core of how unbelievable it is that dontae sat in prison for 26 years, is that the evidence was right there in front of all of ourfaces. it was before the courts. the judge went back to his chambers and made it clear that he was going to announce his ruling from the bench, which is not always what happens in these cases. the court now resumes the sitting for the dispatch of this business.

cheering you finally get vindicated. you finally prove that all the years you've been telling people, "i'm innocent. man, i did not do this. "i didn't kill this man. "i didn't." and you've been saying it and saying it and saying it. it was real, but it didn't seem real. you, oh god, have spoken this day. yes. laughter

getting out of prison, wrongfully convicted, to get exonerated, i think is bittersweet to everybody at the end of the day. in prison, you sleep, you don't rest. my sleep patterns are still thrown off. i've still got a habit of getting up, checking all my doors. in prison, all the doors are locked. yeah. i knew y'all was at that pool. i see ya! uh—oh! hey, munchkin. when i got out, it was a shock to be called grandaddy or daddy by my daughter and my grandkids.

watching my dad be a grandad, you can tell he's been... ..trying to make up for me. in her eyes, she wanted him here. she just became angry... ..and, you know...been angry ever since about it. you know, i always let her know, if he could get out to be here with you, he would. wanda, wanda, wanda, wanda. yeah, itold her to go on with her life. i had a life sentence for something i didn't do. you know, i had to let her go. i had planned on not ever, you know, being with anyone i was with before. you know, that dontae dead. honestly, that dontae dead. i was not expecting him to come home to me. i always said it, you know, i always told people,

like, "oh, he come home, i'm not going to let anybody get him, "he belongs to me. "he's, like... "i'm going to get my family now." i'm—a tell you what really got me — when i seen my grandkids, wytham and marnie, that's my family. that's what i always wanted. when i seen that foursome, made me want to dance a little bit. isaid, "god, i'm back!" i got to try this. i got to go with it. we still don't know each other all, you know, the way, but... ..it�*s better. he kind of catching onto me, i'm catching onto him, so... people think that when you get exonerated, the celebration is on. it's over with, the fight is over and you're celebrating, and... it'sjust beginning, really. it'sjust beginning. when i first got out... he groans ..i couldn't

get a job. the felony stopped me from getting a job. the felony stopped me from getting an apartment. it seemed like the felony was controlling my life, and the only way i can get the felony out my record is get pardoned. i haven't been pardoned. governor roy cooper, for some reason, hasn't pardoned me. if i were to get a pardon, it would make everything a lot easier. hi, everybody. governor roy cooper here. every year, we carve out time to do the turkey pardon. - we eat turkey for thanksgiving, so it's a tradition for the governor and the president to pardon the turkeys for thanksgiving. that's a holiday that we celebrate here in america. it's all right to have traditions, but pardoning a human being is way more important than pardoning an animal. i'm announcing that i am a candidate for governorl of north carolina. cheering roy cooper became the governor of north carolina after serving for more than 30 years as the attorney general or in some form or fashion within the criminaljustice system.

and now, as governor, he has the ability to decide the future of dontae's life. a pardon is a technical term. it can only come from the governor in north carolina and it is the only way to get a determination by the state that you are innocent and it is the only way to get compensated. you get a very small amount of money in comparison to what has been taken away from you, but it's that stability that allows you to be able to build a new life. can i get my pardon? can i get my freedom? something that was given to me

by god that you mistakenly took from me? he is not asking for the state of north carolina to apologise. he's asking for the state of north carolina to acknowledge the wrong and give him what is due under the constitution. when you get exonerated, you're supposed to be able to get pardoned. there's some actual other states that have automatic pardons after you get exonerated. north carolina's not one of them. i'm not begging for it, i'm not pleading for it. i'm just here to put mr cooper, this whole system, north carolina, on notice that i'm—a keep right on talking cos there's more guys that i left behind me that's innocent. they buried this man alive! you're looking at a miracle. there was never an intention for him to be standing - here today! when you try to do this - and you do this and you kill a person's dream...

thank you, reverend. all right. thank all of you. thank you. we need that asap. like, tomorrow. talking about freedom. god knows freedom come in all forms. land of the free, home of the brave. who are the free you're talking about? who are the free you're talking to? i'm glad dontae's out. yeah, these ought to be ready. can't get what i lost in 26 years. i got my son back. thank god. we got to start from where we are right now. heavenly father, we thank you for this unity today.

we thank you, god, for the food we're about to receive. we ask you to have it to be nourishment to our body and a blessing to our needs. injesus' name, we thank you. amen. cheering freedom to me is, you know... ..not being locked in, boxed in by them fences and that razor wire. it's been bittersweet since i've been home. it ain't all been roses. today's more like a celebration of the beginning of my freedom because i still haven't been pardoned. there's some guys that have never been pardoned, they've been home ten years. you know, i'm not going to let that hold me back or hold me down cos i can't. i'm going to live whether i get it or not.

the sign behind me behind my head says pardon dontae sharpe now. that is past tense because dontae has been pardoned. i want to thank everybody, every petition, person, everybody, who did anything, the bbc that did the documentary. today is a beautiful day in north carolina forjustice. it is a beautiful day for dontae sharpe and his family. it is a day that is so well deserved. i'm going to have so many... a surprise. a pardon of actual innocence, it lifts the burden off of my shoulders and my family's shoulders. just god bless everybody that helped me get from prison to this point of my life.

hello there. we await the arrival of the second named storm of the season. storm barra will bring the worst of the weather during tuesday as windy weather develops widely. added to that later on snow and blizzards over some of the hills in the north. this is the centre of the storm approaching western parts of ireland. it will push a band of heavy rain northwards and eastward across the uk.

but ahead of that we start the day with a frost widely and some icy patches in western scotland and the northwest of england. a very cold start then. we got that rain sweeping its way across northern ireland, wales and the southwest in the morning, the winds picking up as well. that will be followed by some sunny intervals in heavy, blustery showers in the afternoon as that band of weather weather continues to push its way northwards and eastwards. may make double figures again in the southwest but it's much colder elsewhere, especially north of england and scotland where into that cold air the rain will fall as snow. particularly in the hills, a couple of centimetres, peak district, pennines, cumbria and the fells. heavier snowfall, blizzards likely in the southern uplands and that snowy weather will work its way up into the highlands later on in the day as the main rain band sweeps away from eastern parts of england, heavy showers follow and it stays very windy. strongest winds are likely to be through the irish sea, english channel, gust 70, 80mph near coast. generally a0 or 50 or so but could get windier around some north sea coast in the evening. now, after steaming into the uk storm barra isjust going to stall overnight and into wednesday. and it will weaken as well. wednesday is still a windy day, just not as windy.

the strongest winds are going to be in south wales and the southwest of england. and around that area of low pressure showers or longer spells of rain rotating with some brief glimpses of sunshine. but it's still cold, temperatures around five to 7 . by the time we get to thursday our storm really is no more. it's continuing to weaken, the winds are continuing to drop. this band of rain from the atlantic will arrive into northern ireland later in the day. but otherwise, it's a much quieter day on thursday. a fair bit of cloud around, many places are going to be dry, some sunshine at times but we are still in cold air, temperatures typically at sixes and sevens.

welcome to bbc news. i'm david eades. our top stories: the united states announces a diplomatic boycott of the beijing winter olympics because of china's record on human rights. china calls the boycott a pretentious act and insists it is against the spirit of the games. new york's mayor says all private—sector workers in the city must be vaccinated against the coronavirus, the strictest mandate yet. more evidence is given in the trial of ghislaine maxwell, the woman accused of helping the disgraced financier, the latejeffrey epstein. and we talk to the hollywood legend mel brooks who, at 95, is taking stock of his extraordinary career.