Ferber J. Coleman v. W. Frank Smyth, Jr., Superintendent, Virginia State Penitentiary

The defendant was tried and convicted upon a charge of murder in the Circuit Court of Culpeper County, Virginia. Thereafter he filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the Circuit Court of Clifton Forge, Virginia. The Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia denied a writ of error in an order in which it is recited that a transcript of the proceedings had been reviewed. The Supreme Court denied certiorari. 356 U.S. 923, 78 S.Ct. 708, 2 L.Ed.2d 718. The defendant then filed this petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.…