Strickland v. Washington

Holding 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"

United States v. Booker

Holding the Sentencing Guidelines are advisory

Apprendi v. New Jersey

Holding that “[o]ther than the fact of a prior conviction, any fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury, and proved beyond a reasonable doubt”

Blakely v. Washington

Holding that “[w]hen a judge inflicts punishment that the jury's verdict alone does not allow, the jury has not found all the facts ‘which the law makes essential to the punishment,’ and the judge exceeds his proper authority”

Jackson v. Virginia

Holding that courts conducting review of the sufficiency of the evidence to support a criminal conviction should view the "evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution"

Wiggins v. Smith

Holding that counsel's performance was deficient when they failed to expand their investigation into the defendant's life history "after having acquired only rudimentary knowledge of his history from a narrow set of sources," especially when those sources indicated the existence of helpful mitigation evidence

United States v. Olano

Holding that plain error review requires a reviewing court to refrain from correcting an error unless it is plain and affects "substantial rights," such that the error "seriously affect the fairness, integrity or public reputation of judicial proceedings"

Batson v. Kentucky

Holding that the Equal Protection Clause applies to the use of peremptory strikes

Tennard v. Dretke

Holding that petitioner was entitled to a COA on his Penry claim where his evidence of low IQ and impaired intellectual functioning had "mitigating dimension beyond the impact it has on the individual's ability to act deliberately"

Strickler v. Greene

Holding that a newspaper article detailing that a witness had been interviewed by the police did not suffice to put a defendant's lawyer on notice that records and evidence concerning the witness existed and had been suppressed

Section 187 - Murder

Defining murder as "the unlawful killing of a human being . . . with malice aforethought."

Section 288 - Lewd or lascivious act upon child under age of 14 years

Defining crime of conviction

Section 12022.5 - Personal use of firearm in commission of felony or attempted felony

Providing for sentence enhancement

Section 189 - Murder of the first degree

Providing that malice may be express or implied – with implied malice being, e.g. , "when the circumstances attending the killing show an abandoned and malignant heart"

Section 422 - Unlawful threat to commit crime

Making a criminal threat

Section 190.2 - Penalty for defendant found guilty of first-degree murder with special circumstance

Prescribing penalty of death or LWOP for special circumstance murder

Section 288a - [Renumbered]

Defining oral copulation as "the act of copulating the mouth of one person with the sexual organ or anus of another person"

Section 15

Affording “the right ... to compel attendance of witnesses in the defendant's behalf”

Section 236 - False imprisonment

Defining false imprisonment as "the unlawful violation of the personal liberty of another

Section 246 - Unlawful discharge of firearm at inhabited dwelling house, occupied building, occupied motor vehicle, occupied aircraft, inhabited housecar, or inhabited camper

Shooting of an occupied vehicle

Rule 4.420 - Selection of term of imprisonment for offense

Rule 8.630 - Briefs by parties and amicus curiae