Basically what they have stated is that unless I have the court declare my plea agreement invalid (which I'm currently working on), they will take no action on my inquiry. They claim that despite providing them with overwhelming evidence proving I was threatened (Prosecutor email with the threat in writing, several documents from my lawyer stating I was being threatened, and even tape recordings with him admitting they threatened me), that it somehow can't happen because there are protections to prevent that from happening.
Those protections do not work, especially when your own attorney tells you those protections do not exist. I was informed by Johnson that if I told the Judge that I was threatened (or said anything that would have the plea thrown out) that all the Judge would do was throw out the plea, we would get a new Judge (the Prosecution made it a point to tell us that the next Judge in line was the "Hanging Judge"), the Prosecution would file the multiple felony counts and that I would spend years in prison (for a felony charge I didn't even commit). I was basically told that no one would do anything to protect my Constitutional rights and that I had better do everything my attorney tells me or else.
I even have the notepad where he wrote "Y" and "N" for where he would point to for my answer to the Judges at both the Preliminary and Guilt Plea hearings, and he stated if I answered different from what he indicated I would go to prison. My (former) attorney is the one who has a law degree and is a VSB licensed attorney, not I. It would be unreasonable for anyone to expect me to know if he's full of it or not considering it was the first time I've ever been involved with the legal system and have not had the training he has had. The simple fact is that he was covering for Ms. Manweiler just as much as the Prosecution (tape recordings to back that up), and he also had a desire to finish this quickly so that he could take his money and run (recordings and his own notes to back this up).
Johnson even went so far as to state that he would not provide a defense for me at a trial, and essentially I would have to hire another attorney for this. However, when attempting to even fire him and hire Ms. Katherine Peters as my attorney (who interestingly enough is now working for Warner Chapman the head C'ville prosecutor) I was informed that Warner Chapman called Johnson up and stated that if I attempted to fire my attorney and hire another one, that he would not only carry out their earlier threat but that come Monday (the guilty plea hearing) he might file the multiple counts anyway regardless of my cooperation (because he was so angry that I tried to fire my attorney) and FORCE me into pleading to all counts. I could not even fire my incompetent attorney without suffering penalties for it. Thankfully I have Johnson not only admitting this happened on tape, but he even goes so far as to say that Prosecutors do this kind of thing to people every day.
The VSB has decided to ignore reality simply because it was not convenient for them to take action. And of course a bunch of excuses follow. Our neighbor, who attended the hearings with my mother, has a son who is a retired Federal Judge. He stated to my mother that it was a "good try" but that he was not surprised at the VSB's refusal to do their job. He has reported lawyers to the VSB before and has been ignored. Even two lawyers I've talked to said not to bother with the VSB, that they don't do anything.
Considering I provided a binder at least an inch thick with evidence and testimony, and not just simply filled out a form, there is no excuse for the VSB to not take any actions regardless of the conviction status. Its just an excuse to avoid doing anything. I also noticed they completely ignored my inquiry against William Johnson, only mentioning his name in the subject line. They even admitted my lawyer should have taken certain actions, yet they still ignored his inquiry.
Once I saw that the VSB would refuse to do anything until I overturned the conviction, it was obvious to me that I needed to reach certain milestones. As for them bringing up the nolle prossed charges, I had informed them that the reason I waited as long as I did to file the inquiry was due to wanting to ensure that those charges could not be used against me by the prosecution to harass me out of withdrawing my inquiry. They had passed the two year statute of limitations on misdemeanor charges and thus those charges were no longer a concern once I filed the inquiry in 2009.
Once I received word from the VSB, I decided it would be prudent to wait until I was off probation before I took any further action. If I filed the paperwork before being removed from probation and the court refused to overturn the conviction, they might try to keep me on probation for the entire five years. As I was released from probation early, that is also no longer a concern. It also gives me some other options.
In regards to plea agreements, Ms. Manweiler had the option to have me sign over my right to own a gun in exchange for a misdemeanor charge - I have been informed that if I had agreed to this option for a misdemeanor (which is what I was willing to do just to avoid the felony) that I could have never recovered my right to own a firearm. But it is exactly as William Johnson admits on one of the tape recordings - that this never had anything to do with me owning a firearm, they just wanted a felony conviction at any cost. Another notch on the Prosecution's belt. The comments Johnson made about a conversation he had with head prosecutor Warner Chapman, have Chapman essentially stating that he could care less about Ms. Manweiler's safety - that he is more concerned about his elected position and not having a finger pointed at him, rather than being concerned with what happens to the "victim".
While having the good behavior time reduced to five years and a pardon after that would restore my rights, I am more concerned with clearing my name and having the charge completely removed from my record - something I can accomplish with what I have in my possession, though it is nice to know there are other options. I was also informed that I can ask the court to drop the felony to a misdemeanor and have everything restored that way, but in order to do so my attorney would have to write Ms. Manweiler a letter asking her to agree to this.
While Ms. Manweiler does not have a say in the good behavior time being reduced, they do ask for her input for the court to drop it to a misdemeanor. If she says no, they will not agree to reducing it to a misdemeanor (though again, they can still reduce the good behavior time regardless of her objection). I'm not about to waste money on a lawyer doing this when I know damn well she'll say no - this is a vicious individual and a "no" is a guarantee. I've never seen one single act of kindness or compassion from this woman, not towards others and definitely not towards me, so I'm not even going to bother with that option.
I was also told Ms. Manweiler could ask for a pardon at any time regardless of probation and good behavior status and it would be granted, but again this is not an option to even waste time hoping for. Even one of the individuals speaking to me about this said he couldn't believe that Ms. Manweiler, upon hearing of my employment difficulties and medical issues, would be cold and evil enough to refuse to let this felony go. I told him he's never met someone like Michelle Manweiler.
This woman had her chance to show mercy before, something that was completely unexpected by me and if she had surprised me with it, it would have shown that I was wrong about her - but she did what I expected her to do, not only refusing mercy but also insuring that I was hammered into the ground by this. I didn't get mercy then, I have no illusions about getting it now.
The VSB response letter:
http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af148/TheRottweilers/VSBLetterPage1.jpg
http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af148/TheRottweilers/VSBLetterpage2.jpg
As for the blog, believe me when I say that it serves a purpose beyond giving me a forum to talk about this injustice. I'm well aware Ms. Manweiler may be reading it, and it is not a concern.
I may not post for awhile after this. It is far more important to work on the necessary material to overturn the conviction than it is to just sit here writing about it. I might not post again until I have dropped off the motion at the courthouse and gone to the news (unless I get a lawyer first, then I'll post about that). We will have to see.