After nearly four years behind bars, Julius Bishop has been found guilty in a case he says was built on lies and abuse of power by his ex-girlfriend, a magistrate in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.
Despite his April 5 conviction, Bishop was given credit for time served and walked free, released from the ordeal that upended his life in 2021.
The jury convicted Bishop of assault on a female, assault by strangulation , communicating threats, and violating a protective order — all stemming from a 2021 domestic violence case involving his former partner, Ashley Blackwell, a local judge. He was acquitted of stalking.
The verdict capped a long and tangled legal battle marked by accusations of corruption, claims of entrapment, and questions about the integrity of the justice system itself. Bishop, now 49, has maintained since day one that he was framed. For three and a half years, he’s told anyone who would listen — from jailhouse staff to reporters — that Blackwell misused her role as a magistrate to orchestrate his downfall…