Justice never is out of date

You’ve come a long way, Virginia.

And it’s been a long, hard road for those who believe justice should prevail, even if — especially if — belatedly.

Evidence of the journey along this road to justice now lies with the case of Darrell Andrew Copeland, who seeks to become the first inmate in the state to be exonerated by non-DNA evidence.

His case is so strong it is supported by the attorney general’s office.

Not so many years ago, Virginia had the toughest rule in the nation regarding new evidence after conviction — and held to that rule almost obsessively.

Once a felon was sentenced, any new evidence in a case had to be presented within 21 days.

That’s just three weeks to change the course of justice.

The rule did not come under much scrutiny until technology was developed for DNA testing. DNA testing could provide dramatic new evidence in some of the most serious of cases, including rape and murder cases.

But DNA testing was not available at the time of trial for many felons sitting in Virginia prisons who maintained that they were innocent. And after 21 days Virginia would not allow the results of new tests to weigh at all.

The caricature of Lady Justice saying “Evidence is irrelevant” sparked a crusade to change Virginia’s archaic rule.

Eventually, the rule was changed regarding DNA evidence only.

That quickly led to a handful of death-row exonerations. Men are alive today, cleared of the crimes for which they were convicted, because Virginia finally decided to accept this compelling form of evidence even if presented more than 21 days after sentencing.

Although no death-row exonerations have been obtained recently, the state is still working through a backlog of DNA testing.

Meanwhile, Virginia also decided to set up a procedure for accepting non-DNA evidence.

It is that change that brings us to today’s case.

Mr. Coleman, already a convicted felon, last year was convicted of felony firearm possession.

His lawyer said the evidence at the time was insufficient to convict because the state did not introduce the gun as evidence.

The state argued, and a judge agreed, that the police officer’s testimony was sufficient. After all, an officer ought to know a gun when he sees one.

Later, however, forensic tests on the weapon showed that it was not a fire-arm under state law.

The gun was a “gas gun,” which uses compressed gas to fire a round. State law defines “firearm” as a weapon that utilizes an explosion to fire a round.

Mr. Coleman “is incarcerated on an offense he legally could not commit,” the attorney general’s office wrote to the Virginia Court of Appeals.

In the four years since the non-DNA evidence law went into effect, there have been 126 other petitions for innocence.

None has been granted.

This may be the first.

And when the General Assembly next convenes, it ought to update its definition of “firearm.”