By John Hopkins
The Virginian-Pilot
NORFOLK, Va. — A 20-year-old Norfolk man could be the first person exonerated under a 2004 Virginia law allowing convicts to present new, non-DNA evidence of their innocence.
The attorney general’s office has conceded that Darrell Andrew Copeland is in prison for a crime he “legally could not commit,” said Kathleen Ortiz, Chesapeake’s public defender.
It is the first time the state has backed an inmate’s petition for a “writ of actual innocence” since the law took effect four years ago. According to the appeals court, 126 petitions have been rejected and none granted. Copeland’s is one of three pending.
Copeland was convicted in Chesapeake Circuit Court in July 2007 for possession of a firearm by a felon, say court records. He was sentenced to five years.
His petition was based on a lab test of a gun. The firearm, a “gas gun,” was seized by State Police after a car Copeland was riding in crashed during a chase . Troopers during Copeland’s trial testified that Copeland had a black semiautomatic pistol.
The state law defines a firearm as an instrument intended to expel a projectile by means of an explosion. A “gas gun” uses compressed gas to fire.
Senior Assistant Attorney General Leah A. Darron supported Copeland’s claim of innocence in a written response to his petition in the Virginia Court of Appeals.
The 2004 law applies to anyone who is convicted in circuit court after pleading not guilty.
Under that law, legislators established a tough standard for using newly discovered nonbiological evidence: Petitioners must demonstrate that “no rational trier of fact could have found proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”
The lab report on the gun in Copeland’s case meets that standard, Darron wrote.
Copeland’s petition is under review by a judge. If he is exonerated on the gun charge, Copeland will remain jailed on federal charges. He pleaded guilty to carjacking and conspiracy to commit robbery and was sentenced in April to 10 years in prison.
This story includes information from The Associated Press.
Copyright 2008 Landmark Communications, Inc.