After nearly four years in prison, Julius Bishop was found guilty in a case he claims was based on lies and abuse of power by his ex-girlfriend, a magistrate in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.
Despite his April 5 conviction, Bishop received credit for time served and was released from the ordeal that changed his life in 2021.
The jury found Bishop guilty of assault on a female, assault by strangulation, communicating threats, and violating a protective order in connection with a domestic violence case in 2021 involving his former partner, Ashley Blackwell, a local judge. He was acquitted of stalking.
The verdict came at the end of a long and complicated legal battle that included accusations of corruption, claims of entrapment, and questions about the justice system’s overall integrity.
Bishop, now 49, has maintained since the beginning that he was framed. For three and a half years, he has told everyone who will listen, from jail staff to reporters, that Blackwell used her position as a magistrate to orchestrate his downfall.
Jurors deliberated for less than two hours before finding him guilty of all but one charge. Because Bishop has already spent 1,328 days in jail awaiting trial on a $100,000 bond, he will be released under supervision after processing. His attorney, Samuel Randall, confirmed that Bishop will appeal his convictions to the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
From Romance To Ruin
On July 9, 2021, the couple’s relationship ended abruptly. They were living together and discussing starting a family. Blackwell, who worked overnight shifts as a magistrate, was napping on the couch after a long shift when Bishop woke her up, complaining about emails she had sent to a longtime friend.
She greeted the friend with “Southern phrases” such as “Hey baby” and “Hi love,” which enraged Bishop, who saw it as evidence she was cheating.
Arguments and accusations had been simmering for years. They knew each other’s social media passwords and both suspected infidelity. On the day in question, the standoff turned violent.
Home security footage, which Blackwell recovered after Bishop deleted it, captured the assault. In court, jurors witnessed Bishop striking Blackwell with a phone, dragging her by her shirt, throwing objects, and repeatedly choked her while shouting threats.
“When you [expletive] with the devil, you get the devil,” he exclaimed in the video. “If you don’t shut up, I’m going to sock you.”
Bishop also took a topless photo of Blackwell without her permission and sent it to a male coworker, according to testimony. The following day, Blackwell obtained a domestic violence protective order.
‘Going to Set Me Up ‘
Even before his arrest, Bishop told a 911 dispatcher, “A magistrate is going to set me up,” claiming he had never hit or touched Blackwell. During the 18-minute call, he sobbed, pleaded innocence, and referred to himself as a “scorned man.”
He also read a message Blackwell had sent him, which said, “I’m sorry this happened. I did not do this; you did. You’ve gone too far. I love you, but you crossed a lot of lines.”
His bond remained low for a few months until a grand jury indictment in December 2021 included new charges such as felony stalking and strangulation. Two weeks later, his bond spiked to $100,000. Bishop could not afford to pay and remained in jail.
While incarcerated, Bishop sent eight letters to court officials, claiming that Blackwell and the police had filed false charges and violated his constitutional rights. He also went public with his story in early 2025, speaking to WBTV from jail about what he described as Blackwell’s targeted campaign to ruin his life.
Questions of credibility
Bishop’s allegations were supported by an unrelated complaint filed in 2023 by another county magistrate, Cheryl Ivery, who accused Blackwell of blurring the lines between her professional and personal lives.
Ivery claimed Blackwell admitted Bishop caught her cheating and initially denied touching her during their argument before filing charges. The complaint also claimed Blackwell used her relationship with a high-ranking judge to influence Bishop’s case.
Elizabeth Trosch, the judge, later recused herself, but not before approving the protective order against Bishop.
Bishop’s attorney brought up these concerns again in court last week. He claimed that Blackwell “cherry-picked” information to support her case and used her legal knowledge as a magistrate to her advantage.
Nonetheless, he acknowledged that the video showed his client was in the wrong. “I’m not here to convince you that his actions were reasonable,” Randall told the jurors. “He assaulted the crap out of her.”
He urged jurors to look into the stalking and strangulation charges, but they only acquitted Bishop on the former. Bishop’s stalking charge stemmed in part from an email he sent to Blackwell about rent and his attempt to return to the shared home on move-in day.
Prosecutor Terra Varnes painted a different picture: a man seeking vengeance. “Once he finished assaulting Ashley’s body,” she told me, “he moved on to their home.”
Bishop later destroyed property, made accusations of infidelity online, and once left a torn photo labelled “adultery is bad character” at Blackwell’s workplace, in violation of the protective order.
Not the Final Word
While the case has been resolved in Mecklenburg County Superior Court, Bishop’s legal battle is far from finished. With an appeal pending and a long trail of accusations still hanging in the air, questions remain about what actually happened between Bishop and Blackwell — and whether the system handled it fairly.
“I’ve been here for three years,” Bishop informed WBTV earlier this year. “And I’ve lost eight family members that I should have buried in the ground.”
His release signals the conclusion of one chapter. But another begins in the appellate court.
