Eduardo David Vargas v. California
Does California's death penalty scheme, which permits the trier of fact to impose a sentence of death without finding beyond a reasonable doubt the existence of one or more aggravating circumstances, violate the requirement under the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments that every fact, other than a prior conviction, that serves to increase the statutory maximum penalty for a crime must be found by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.
Does California's death penalty scheme violate the requirement under the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments that every fact, other than a prior conviction, that serves to increase the statutory maximum penalty for a crime must be found by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt?