This default had occurred because Coleman's lawyers inadvertently filed their notice of appeal three days later than required by the rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia.

[7] Shortly after the Supreme Court decided Coleman v. Thompson, the New York Times published an editorial harshly criticizing the decision.

[9] Congressman Don Edwards was also critical of the decision, saying that "Coleman might very well be innocent, yet the Supreme Court has used this arbitrary rule that he can’t take advantage of habeas corpus just because it wasn’t technically filed correctly".

[10] Coleman was executed on May 20, 1992, after his final appeals were rejected by the Supreme Court in a 7–2 vote, with Justices Blackmun and David Souter dissenting.

[12] In a 2001 article in Salon, journalist Alan Burlow described Coleman as "one of the Court's most criticized death penalty decisions in recent memory".