Miller-El v. Cockrell

Holding that the government's exclusion of 10 out of 14, or 91%, of Black prospective jurors—along with the state's unreliable justifications—showed purposeful discrimination

Strickland v. Washington

Holding that ineffective assistance of counsel requires two showings: one, that "counsel's performance was deficient," and two, that "the deficient performance prejudiced the defense"

Williams v. Taylor

Holding that counsel's performance was deficient when their investigation failed to uncover "extensive records" filled with mitigation evidence concerning the defendant's family history, education, mental health, and rehabilitation

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”

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"

Estelle v. McGuire

Holding habeas review only looks to whether "the admission of the evidence violated [defendant]'s constitutional rights" and not state law questions

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

Lindh v. Murphy

Holding that the statutory language must be "so clear that it [can] sustain only one interpretation" favoring retroactivity

Brecht v. Abrahamson

Holding that when a court has "never squarely addressed the issue, and ha at most assumed" something in a prior decision, it is "free to address the issue on the merits"

Batson v. Kentucky

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

Section 187 - Murder

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

Section 352 - Balancing of probative value with prejudice

Giving a trial court discretion to exclude evidence "if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the probability that its admission will necessitate undue consumption of time or (b) create substantial danger of undue prejudice, of confusing the issues, or of misleading the jury"

Section 452 - Matters permitting judicial notice

Permitting notice to be taken of the "[o]fficial acts of the . . . judicial departments . . . of any state of the United States"

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

Requiring that defendant previously was “convicted” of first or second degree murder

Section 459 - Duties of reviewing court

Reviewing court may take judicial notice of any matter specified in § 452

Section 484 - Theft

Outlining the elements of both theories

Section 801 - Expert witness opinion testimony

Limiting expert testimony to opinions related to a subject that is sufficiently beyond common experience that the opinion would assist the trier of fact, and based on matter including special knowledge that is of a type that reasonably may be relied upon by an expert in forming an opinion

Section 1259 - Review of question of law or instruction

Preserving claims of instructional error affecting substantial rights despite lack of objection below

Section 1239 - Appeal in manner provided in rules; automatic appeal of judgment of death

Rule 8.320 - Normal record; exhibits