Strickland v. Washington
466 U.S. 668 (1984) Cited 158,620 times 176 Legal AnalysesHolding an "error by counsel" doesn't "warrant setting aside the judgment of a criminal proceeding" where in the context of the whole proceeding the identified error "had no effect on the judgment"
Miller-El v. Dretke
545 U.S. 231 (2005) Cited 2,698 times 15 Legal AnalysesHolding that a prosecutor “would have cleared up any misunderstanding by asking further questions” if he truly considered a race-neutral characteristic grounds for a peremptory strike
People v. Mendoza Tello
15 Cal.4th 264 (Cal. 1997) Cited 1,730 times 1 Legal AnalysesConcluding in substance that ineffectiveness claim was "hybrid" in nature and reversing intermediate appellate holding that error was of "record" variety that required reversal
People v. Lenix
44 Cal.4th 602 (Cal. 2008) Cited 620 timesConcluding that prior practice of refusing to engage in comparative juror analysis for first time on appeal “unduly restricts review based on the entire record” but acknowledging that “comparative juror analysis on a cold appellate record has inherent limitations” that must be taken into consideration
People v. Lopez
42 Cal.4th 960 (Cal. 2008) Cited 570 times 1 Legal AnalysesConcluding the prosecutor's remark in rebuttal," 'I think [defense counsel's] client is guilty, '" did not constitute prosecutorial error because "the prosecutor's comment did not imply that she based her belief in defendant's guilt on evidence not presented at trial. To the contrary: Because her statement that she believed defendant was guilty immediately followed her comment that, in her view, defense counsel's cross-examination of the victims demonstrated that they were credible, a reasonable juror would most likely infer that the prosecutor based her belief in defendant's guilt on the credibility of the victims' testimony at trial."