A man who was convicted of felony firearm possession has become the first person exonerated under a 2004 Virginia law allowing prisoners to present new, non-DNA evidence of their innocence.

The Virginia Court of Appeals granted Darrell Andrew Copeland's writ of actual innocence Tuesday.

The attorney general's office supported Copeland's petition after lab tests showed that the weapon he had when he was arrested in Chesapeake last year was a "gas gun" that does not fit the definition of a firearm under state law.

According to the appeals court, more than 120 petitions for writs of actual innocence have been rejected. Copeland is the only inmate whose petition has been supported by the attorney general.

AP-ES-08-12-08 1221EDT