Murder of Joey Fischer

Albert Joseph "Joey" Fischer Jr. was born in Brownsville, Texas, on January 16, 1975.[1] His parents were A. J. "Buddy" Fischer and Corinne Nelson.[2] The couple divorced in 1987 and remarried separately.[lower-alpha 1] Fischer lived with his mother and his stepfather Vernon "Beau" Nelson. He was a senior honors student at Saint Joseph Academy (St. Joe), a Catholic private school in Brownsville. He had a 98.5 grade-point average, was ranked eleventh in his class, and was going to attend the honors program at the University of Texas at Austin on graduation.[3][4] At 18 years old, he enjoyed basketball and was a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers, loved computers, and talked about pursuing a career as an engineer. Along with two other classmates, he was voted "Most Sarcastic" by his high school class, and was known for sometimes acting foolish, and having a good sense of humor. He was also "often attracted to the more Latina girls of the school".[3] During his junior year, he dated Cristina, who was a year younger than him.[lower-alpha 2] Most of Fischer's friends described her as quiet, although some said she was only reserved with people she did not know. Cristina's mother Dora Garcia Cisneros approved of Fischer's relationship with her daughter and thought he was potentially a good candidate for marriage. In Cisneros's eyes, Fischer was an overachieving student from a good family, and "wasn't wild, like many of the St. Joe boys".[3][6]

Cisneros grew up in a well-off ranching family from Los Indios, Texas, and was married to David Cisneros, a surgeon from Brownsville.[lower-alpha 3][3] They had five children. She was a well-respected volunteer in the local medical community, and was president of the southern chapter of the Cameron-Willacy Counties Medical Society. The association where she volunteered helped raise funds for medical scholarships. In addition, people close to Cisneros said she was a practicing Catholic and that she cared a lot for her family. She volunteered at St. Joe, and was well-liked in the social group she was part of.[9] Since Los Indios was mostly a ranching community close to the U.S.-Mexico border, Cisneros's religiosity was heavily influenced by curanderismo, a practice of religious and folk medicine healing rooted in ancient Mexican culture.[3][10]

In Matamoros and Brownsville, curanderos—practitioners of curanderismo—offered works of white and black magic. These services are known as brujería (witchcraft). People consult healers and fortune tellers for help with relationships: to revive their romance, to end a marriage, to make someone fall in love, or to hurt someone. People also consult them to drive away negative energy, predict the future and dangerous events, to improve their health, or to bring positive energy.[10][11] Cisneros grew closer to curanderismo after her firstborn, David, died after being thrown from a moving vehicle by a friend while he attended St. Joe as a student in 1974. People close to Cisneros described her as a person who endured several tragic events growing up. One of her uncles committed suicide when she was young, and her brother drowned as a teenager. But, several others who were close to her maintained that after her son died, Cisneros started to show signs of insanity, became more protective of her children, and began visiting local curanderas.[3]

On Wednesday, March 3, 1993, in Rancho Viejo, Texas, an affluent community just north of Brownsville, Fischer woke up early to get ready for school. Just before 7:00 am, he went to the garage and reversed his mother's car into the circular driveway at his home at 3 Cortez Avenue.[3][14] He then walked toward the corner of the house and grabbed a garden hose to spray water on the car's windows, which were covered in dust. As he sprayed the car, someone came from behind and shot him twice at point-blank range with what would later be identified as a .38 Super pistol.[lower-alpha 5] One of the shots penetrated his chest and the other his brain.[3][15] Fischer's mother looked out the window to see what had happened, thinking the noise came from one of the house's palm tree branches falling on the roof, or that the car had backfired. She did not see the car, and thought that perhaps her son had gone to a convenience store to pick up something, but Fischer's brother Eric told her he could see the car parked on the driveway.[3]

She went to the garage and saw Fischer's body lying face up on the driveway. She told her daughter Kathy to call 911, and her father, Buddy, who lived a few minutes away. Buddy dressed and headed toward the house. He took a shortcut off Texas highways 77 and 83 to reach the house, and recalled going over 110 miles per hour (180 km/h) at some point, and brushing off a few cars along the way by gesturing with his left hand. Once he reached Rancho Viejo, he ignored the entrance and drove instead through a field of palm trees. As he drew closer to Fischer's house, he heard police sirens at a distance. When he arrived, he saw his son's body holding a garden hose. The running water had covered the entire roadway with Fischer's blood.[3] Witnesses, including Eric, recall seeing a short-bearded Hispanic man in his mid-20s driving a white, four-door vehicle with Mexican license plates speeding away after the attack.[5][16] Kathy then phoned one of Fischer's closest friends before school started and asked him if he knew if Fischer had any enemies. Fischer's friend could not think of anyone who disliked him, and only recalled that he and Fischer had been in an altercation with a group of boys at a football game.[3]

The evening before Fischer's burial, over 600 people attended a Catholic service at St. Mary's Church in Brownsville. His parents decided to have an open casket to allow attendees to kneel and pray next to the coffin. The funeral took place in the same church. Many people were in attendance including Buddy and Corinne's acquaintances, and Fischer's high school classmates. His girlfriend Marianela Caballero and her mother attended both services. Cristina, his ex-girlfriend, was also at the services, but her mother was not present. Fischer was buried at the Mont Meta Memorial Park in San Benito, Texas. In the days after the funeral, several of Fischer's longtime friends and their parents gathered at Buddy's house for moral support. Fischer's family moved out of the house where he was killed, and went to live with Corinne's mother.[2][3] The day of the murder, the Brownsville police offered a reward of US$5,000 to anyone who could assist in the arrest of any individual involved in the murder.[15] A week later the reward was increased to US$20,000.[17] Five months after the murder, Fischer's house was sold at a US$18,000 loss.[lower-alpha 6][18]

After Garza confessed to police in a written statement on March 31, 1993, he was not arrested immediately because he agreed to cooperate with them in their efforts to apprehend Martínez. Garza reached out to Martínez and told her that the assassins wanted more money. He met with her three times in April 1993 wearing a wire, and had Martínez agree to contact Cisneros to give Garza the money. Police arrested Martínez on April 6 and agreed to work with them to incriminate Cisneros. The next morning, she scheduled a meeting with Cisneros and told her that the assassins requested more money, and she needed to pay. They rode around Brownsville and Cisneros's voice was recorded. The police kept close to the car to stay within the transmitter's signal range. Only portions of the conversation were recorded because the police were unable to remain within range all the time.[16][22] While in the car, Cisneros gave Martínez an envelope with US$500.[35] Cisneros then asked Martínez if there was any evidence that she had orchestrated the murder. Cisneros mentioned Garza and a man known as "El Cortado," though investigators had no idea who he was. In the recorded conversation, there was no incriminating evidence against the gunmen, since there was no evidence that Cisneros employed them, or that the assassins murdered Fischer.[16] The meeting concluded when police pulled the vehicle over and arrested Cisneros.[37] She told a police officer that she owed Martínez some money, which Martínez later admitted was not the case.[16]

Cisneros and Martínez were arrested and charged with capital murder, which in Texas is punishable with a life sentence or death by lethal injection. Cisneros was taken to the Cameron County jail. On her way there, reporters asked if she was responsible for Fischer's murder, and she shook her head. Cisneros's husband also refused to comment. The police denied her bail, but her attorney said that she was a respected member of the Brownsville community and deserved bail. Cisneros's attorney told the press that the arrest was a mistake, and that he was confident the police had no solid evidence against her. Police responded by saying they were content with her arrest, but still needed to go after other people involved in the murder plot.[38][39] Martínez' family also said they were shocked by the arrest, saying they hoped it was a mistake, and that they did not know the Fischers or Cisneros.[38] On April 13, Cisneros was released from prison on a $300,000 bond, refusing to comment as she left. According to court documents, Cisneros did not go before a judge to obtain a bond. Her attorney reached an agreement with the Cameron County Court District after her bond was denied the week before. Martínez remained in prison, and her bond was set at the same amount the next day. Her lawyer stated that she deserved a bond as well because she was a senior citizen and had a clean criminal record.[40][41]

On June 8, 1993, Garza was arrested at the Cameron County office in Harlingen having surrendered after an arrest warrant was issued.[lower-alpha 16] He was charged with capital murder and held at a county prison with a US$500,000 bond. Garza refused to comment on the arrest, and officers stated that they could not release details of his involvement other than that they had evidence he was involved in Fischer's murder. Arrest warrants were issued for Olivarez and Puentes Pizaña the day before. They were believed to be in Mexico, and police said they were working with Mexican officials to arrest the two men.[42] On July 21, 1993, Mexican State Judicial Police arrested Olivarez, and his brother Alonso Bazaldúa Cepeda, in Matamoros on a December 1992 murder charge, and for the unauthorized use of a vehicle. However, both men were released at around 3:00 a.m. the next day after Olivarez showed the police a writ of amparo (similar to a writ of habeas corpus), which protected his constitutional civil rights. Following their release, the Brownsville police said there were reports that the two suspects were seen in Matamoros, and in Monterrey, Nuevo León, and that next time they tried to cross the international bridge, U.S. border agents would arrest them. Police records show that Olivarez was once arrested in Brownsville on September 12, 1992, for possession of a criminal instrument, but was released on bond the following day. He wrote on his bond application that he lived in Brownsville,[lower-alpha 17] though this information was false.[20][44]

On February 13, 1994, State Judicial Police arrested Puentes Pizaña in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, on a car theft charge. In an interview the following day, he said he was not guilty of Fischer's murder, and claimed he was at his mother's house in Matamoros when the murder occurred.[45] He insisted that neither he nor Olivarez were gun owners or users.[46] U.S. officials noted that it was unlikely for Mexico to extradite Puentes Pizaña since the extradition treaty between both countries did not cover Mexican nationals, and because Texas has the death penalty, which is outlawed in Mexico. Reynosa officials stated that Puentes Pizaña would have to face charges in Mexico before an extradition could be considered. Car theft sentences ranged from three to ten years in prison. Puentes Pizaña, on the other hand, argued that facing trial in the U.S. would not guarantee a fair trial.[47][48] South Texas officials stated that there was a possibility for Puentes Pizaña to be tried in Mexico for Fischer's murder if an agreement was made between Texan and Tamaulipas state officials, though they said that trying him in the U.S. was unlikely.[lower-alpha 18][51] Among the possible guarantees discussed for a possible extradition was dropping Puentes Pizaña's capital murder charge altogether because it qualified him for the death penalty. Another alternative discussed was having U.S. authorities promise Mexican prosecutors that Puentes Pizaña would not face the death penalty. Once in the U.S., Puentes Pizaña's charges cannot be upgraded, per the 1980 extradition treaty between both countries.[49]

On May 23, 1994, Mexican State Judicial Police arrested Olivarez again in Matamoros for possessing two stolen vehicles. He was interviewed by Mexican authorities and stated that he was not guilty of Fischer's murder. He admitted to having stolen cars since he was young, and stated that Garza was trying to put the blame on him to protect himself from prosecution. Olivarez justified himself by saying that he had never been arrested with a gun. He admitted going to Dallas in 1992, but stated that he only knew Garza by name. He said he was a self-employed auto mechanic who supported his wife, mother, and uncle. Mexican officials said that Olivarez's auto theft ring extended all the way to Monterrey, as well as in Río Bravo, Valle Hermoso, and Matamoros, Tamaulipas. There was an arrest warrant for him issued by a state judge in Reynosa for being connected to about 50 car thefts. Brownsville investigators went to Mexico to see if they could talk to Olivarez, and began extradition proceedings to bring him to a Texan court.[32]

A state grand jury indicted Cisneros, Martínez, Garza, Olivarez, and Puentes Pizaña on July 28, 1993. Defense attorneys said they wanted to move the trial out of Cameron County because the case had attracted a lot of media attention in the local area. Martínez' defense attorney said he wanted to file a motion to change the venue, and have his client tried separately from the other accused. He also said that he would try to suppress a statement made by Martínez after she was arrested in April.[52] On August 12, in a packed courtroom at the 357th State District Court house in Brownsville, Cisneros and Martínez pleaded not guilty to the murder charges. Garza also entered a not-guilty plea, and stood with the accused during the court session. The judge agreed to remove La Curandera (Healer-Fortune Teller) from Martínez' name on the indictment after the defense complained that the alias was a media creation. The judge set the hearing date for pre-trial motions for October 7, and the trial for November 8.[33] On September 20, defense attorneys for Martínez and Garza filed motions to suppress statements their clients had made since March. Martínez's attorney said she did not understand her right to have a lawyer because she is not fluent in English, and that her arrest was unlawful. The defense asked the judge to discard the video and wire tap recordings because they claimed that their client was involuntarily coerced to make statements that incriminated her, and thus violated the Miranda warnings. Martínez' defense requested a court-appointed translator, the elimination of the indictment, and a severance to have their client tried separately. In addition, Garza's defense said that their client's constitutional rights were violated when he made his statements. They also said that Garza's encounter with Martínez after Fischer's murder was recorded without his knowledge.[53]

On October 27, the defense attorneys again said that they wanted to move the venue for the trial outside Cameron County because of all the publicity the case had received. They claimed it was impossible to select an impartial jury in Brownsville because of the amount of information the press had released against the defendants. The judge said he would announce his decision on November 2.[54] On the same day, a grand jury reindicted Cisneros and Martínez on capital murder. Prosecutors had presented the evidence to a second grand jury and issued a revised indictment. A clear distinction between the first and second indictment was the change of the word "caused" to "committed".[55] Because a new indictment was issued, Cisneros, Martínez, and Garza pleaded not-guilty for a second time, forcing the court proceedings to be pushed back from their original dates. A pretrial hearing scheduled for November 2 was delayed. At least 42 motions were filed by the defendants when the first indictment was made, and the second indictment meant that they had to refile all the motions by November 12.[56]

On November 23, Cisneros's request for a change of venue was denied by the court. The prosecution stated that the pool of possible jurors included people from other parts of Cameron County and not just from Brownsville, where most of the county's population resided, and where the murder occurred. They stated it was unlikely that these potential jurors had read the articles from the Houston Chronicle, The Dallas Morning News, or The New Yorker magazine, which the defense provided earlier as evidence that Cisneros was depicted negatively.[57] The trial was pushed ahead to January 31, 1994.[56] The day of the trial, Martínez admitted that she conspired to kill Fischer and agreed to testify against Cisneros and Garza. By entering a plea bargain, Martínez was seeking to be sentenced for a conspiracy charge and to have the capital murder charges dropped. The judge stated that he was not bound by the plea bargain agreement, but clarified that she had the right to drop her guilty plea if she so decided.[58]

Jury selection began on February 4. Defense attorneys questioned the first potential jury group of 38 people. They chose two jurors on the first day of the selection hearing for Cisneros's and Garza's trial. Martínez was no longer part of the proceedings since she pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder on February 1, and agreed to testify for the prosecution against Cisneros and Garza. According to state law, a defendant cannot be sentenced based on the statement of an alleged accomplice.[59][60] While interviewing the rest of the potential jurors, each defense attorney struck two potential jurors as did the state. Two others were disqualified, but this did not affect the total number of strikes allowed. Each defendant was allowed eight strikes, and the prosecution sixteen for the two defendants.[60] On February 7, two more jurors were selected, bringing the total to four of the twelve jurors required, plus two alternate jurors. The judge said he was going to analyze whether he should drop Martínez' capital murder charge since she had pleaded guilty to conspiracy the week before.[61] On February 11, the defense attorneys were halfway through the jury selection after selecting a total of seven.[62] On February 16, nine jurors had been selected, but the total number of strikes was reduced after 25 jurors were struck because they had pre-conceived opinions of the defendants. The defense had used 10 strikes between them and had only six left. The prosecution, on the other hand, had eight strikes left.[63] By February 23, eleven jurors had been selected. Only two open spots were available for jurors, one being an alternate.[64]

Since the trial had received national attention, Brownsville officials were expecting a large crowd of spectators and reporters in the courtroom. In order to accommodate them, the trial was moved from the 357th State District Court to the 197th State District courtroom.[27] On February 25, 1994, the jury examined the evidence from the bullet remains, the motel records, and photos of Fischer's corpse. Joey Fischer's brother Eric took the stand and described what he saw and heard the morning his brother was killed. He said when he heard the two gunshots, he looked through the window and saw a white car driving away.[65] Fischer's sister Kathy told the jury that she and Cristina had once had a two-hour telephone conversation, and that Cristina had said that she wanted to "hurt" Fischer. Their school counselor stated that Cristina agreed she said this but claimed she did not mean it once she learned about Fischer's death. Cristina told the jury that she did not remember making such statements to Kathy and the counselor.[66]

A member of the Cuellar organization, Victor Moreno, testified in court and helped investigators connect the murder to members of the criminal group. He stated that Olivarez, Puentes Pizaña, and Palomares worked for Cuellar and were behind the murder. He also said he spoke with Garza about "a murder" in Brownsville, and claimed to have been with Cuellar when Palomares called him to tell him about the murder of "a boy" in Brownsville. Moreno allegedly gave money to Garza to buy the gun in Dallas on Cuellar's behalf. After the purchase, Moreno gave the gun to Cuellar, who then reportedly gave it to the assassins. The defense stated that even if, for argument's sake, Moreno's testimony was true it was inadmissible because he was not involved in the murder. However, the court concluded that he was integral to the process that led to Fischer's murder, and admitted his testimony citing a co-conspirator hearsay exception.[5]

On February 28, Garza's half-brother Moya testified against him and said Garza admitted he had received US$3,000 for Fischer's murder while he was in Brownsville. Garza's defense tried to discredit Moya's statements by saying he was facing drug offenses in Dallas, and was cooperating with prosecutors by testifying against Garza to receive a reduced sentence. Moya denied such arrangements were in place. He said the gun used at the murder scene was bought in Dallas while he was there, and he remembered seeing it in Garza's home in San Antonio. Records from the gun shop in Dallas showed Garza bought the same type of gun on February 1, 1993. In addition, a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigator testified he helped record the suspect's conversations, while a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) technician helped improve the clarity of the tapes. The defense attorneys brought in experts to discredit the recordings, and to prove they had been tampered with.[67]

On March 1, defense attorneys questioned evidence brought by the prosecution. They pointed out that the police had no written reports of the investigation, and had failed to record the serial numbers and mark the US$100 bills used as evidence when Martínez received the cash from Cisneros immediately before her arrest. In addition, a private forensic investigator hired by the defense stated that he could not prove that the recordings were authentic. The private investigator later mentioned in an interview that the defense had paid US$18,000 to analyze the tapes, though she said that this payment did not influence her study of the recordings. The defense said the searches police conducted did not produce any evidence to implicate Cisneros in the murder, and that Garza was not arrested for over a month after he confessed his involvement in it. The police defended their actions and said that Garza was initially a witness when investigators met with him and Moya in March 1993 at a motel in San Antonio to discuss the murder. Investigators said he then traveled with them to Brownsville to give an official statement which he signed. He then stayed at a hotel in Brownsville that was arranged and paid for by Brownsville investigators, while the police prepared to record his encounter with Martínez. After incriminating Martínez, Garza was allowed to go to Mexico. Martínez and Cisneros were arrested several weeks after Garza's statement, but he was not arrested until two months later. The police stated that they made no promises to Garza to obtain his cooperation.[68][22]

On March 3, the jurors listened to the voice recordings having been provided with a transcript. The transcript had "inaudible" written on some of the excerpts because the conversations during Garza's meeting with Martínez, and during Martínez' meeting with Cisneros, were unclear. On the first recording, Garza met with Martínez under the pretext that the gunmen were requesting more money, and that the police instructed Garza to tell Martínez that Cisneros needed to pay an extra US$500. On the recordings, Martínez told Garza that she had no money and that Cisneros was out of town. Garza then told Martínez that the assassins were difficult to contact and he worried that if the payments were not made, they could get angry. Martínez then asked Garza what the assassins did with the car they used, and if they had worn gloves when they shot Fischer. After two more recordings between the pair, the Brownsville police arrested Martínez and had her meet with Cisneros. Early in the recording made with Cisneros, though unclear in some parts, she was recorded handing over something to Martínez and saying "five," referring to the US$500 the police confiscated from her during the arrest. She was also recorded asking Martínez if there was any proof that she had been involved in the murder.[69] The jury heard Cisneros's recording asking Martínez the following phrase: "There isn't, isn't any evidence that I did anything?"[70]

On March 5, Martínez testified against Cisneros and told the jury that she ordered Fischer's murder. Martínez said that Cisneros told her to keep the plan a secret and that she wanted him "good and dead". Speaking in Spanish through an interpreter, Martínez leaned forward in her seat and pointed at Cisneros, saying she told her exactly that. Defense attorneys tried to discredit Martínez' testimony and show the jury that she was a con-woman. They presented letters from several of her former clients who had paid around US$600 for love potions. One woman from San Antonio said that Martínez consulted her after she began having problems with her boyfriend and did not see positive results. Martínez denied knowing who the writers were, but changed her mind when the defense read the letters to her and the jury. She admitted that she used herbs, oils, and holy water in her sessions, and that she kept a human skull in her shop. She did not call herself a curandera (fortune teller) because she did not study to earn the title. Martínez was then asked to read her cards for one of the attorneys in the courtroom to show the jury how she worked.[28]

After three weeks of jury selection, and eight trial days, the defense made their closing statements on March 7 in about three hours. They presented three witnesses and then rested their case. Fischer's mother took the stand and gave her final testimony, and her version of the story. The judge told prosecutors that they had to choose to charge the defendants with capital murder or conspiracy to commit murder. The prosecution decided on the capital murder charge, and sought the death penalty for both Cisneros and Garza.[71] The following day, the jury convicted Cisneros and Garza of capital murder for arranging Fischer's death. Neither of them showed any emotion when the verdict was given. Cisneros then removed her jewelry and was taken to the Cameron County jail with Garza. The jurors met the following day to discuss the punishment phase of the trial.[72]

On March 9, the judge sentenced Cisneros and Garza to life in prison after the jury decided that neither of them posed a threat to society, and thus did not deserve the death penalty. This sentence included the possibility for parole after they complete 35 mandatory years behind bars. The head juror said the tapes were the strongest evidence against them, along with Martínez' testimony. Fischer's parents said they were pleased with the decision, and that justice was finally served, but said their son's absence would leave a void for the rest of their lives. The prosecution intended to have Cisneros sentenced to death arguing that her actions were premeditated. Garza's closing words centered around him being told by Martínez that Cisneros wanted Fischer hurt, and that he would not have knowingly participated in a murder. Both defense attorneys said they would appeal the verdict. Cisneros's attorney in particular said the judge's denial of a separate trial for his client was the reason for his early appeal.[73][74] The defense said that trials where two defendants implicate each other are often severed. The judge refused to sever them because Cisneros's statement did not mention Garza. The defense also said they would appeal the verdict because they believed that the voice recordings were tampered with and unauthenticated. A judge formalized the jury's decision and sentenced Cisneros and Garza to life in prison on April 18.[75]

On March 25, Martínez was sentenced to 20 years in prison for conspiracy to commit murder. The judge recognized that although she was of advanced age, and might not leave prison alive before her sentence was completed, in his judgment the punishment was appropriate. She was given the maximum sentence; the shortest sentence was two years. Martínez' lawyer said that if her client had not pleaded guilty and cooperated with court officials, her sentence would probably have been the same as Cisneros's and Garza's. He also said that she would be eligible for parole in 18 to 24 months because the murder weapon was never found. If the murder weapon had been found, Texas law required all individuals convicted in a murder case to serve at least a fourth of their sentence before being eligible for parole.[76][77] Both Cisneros and Martínez were sent to the all-female state prison Gatesville Unit and kept in separate cells, while Garza was confined in a Cameron County prison.[78]

On July 13, 1995, Cameron County officials and state authorities traveled to Mexico City to ask Mexican officials to prosecute Puentes Pizaña and Olivarez for Fischer's murder. Thousands of documents were translated from English to Spanish and handed over to Mexico's attorney general for review.[79] On July 15, Mexican officials agreed to prosecute both of them for the murder in an international prosecution court in Mexico City. Texas prosecutors asked the Mexican government to use Article 4 of the Mexican Federal Penal Code, a little-used provision that permits Mexican citizens to be prosecuted in Mexico for crimes they committed outside the country.[80] In order for the provision to take effect, it required the accused to be in Mexican territory; not to have faced justice in the country where the crime was committed; and that the crime was not only illegal in the country where it was committed, but also in Mexico.[81] Murder in Mexico carries a maximum sentence of 50 years in prison, though it is common for people to be released after 15 to 25 years for good behavior.[82] The Cameron County office said they would use a federal prosecutor from Tamaulipas as the judge.[83] The two accused would be issued an arrest warrant and asked to appear in court where a federal judge would review their case and determine the punishment in a few months. When Puentes Pizaña heard the news, he was surprised and angered by the decision. He maintained his innocence saying he was only a car thief.[82] Olivarez was in custody in a Matamoros prison.[84][lower-alpha 19] On September 20, a Mexican federal judge agreed to prosecute Puentes Pizaña and Olivarez for the murder.[84] Both of them were eventually found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison.[85]

On January 25, 1996, Cisneros's conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeals for the 13th District of Texas in Edinburgh, Texas.[86] In court, the judge instructed the jury that unless there was evidence showing that Cisneros employed the assassins, or that there was evidence that Puentes Pizaña and Olivarez killed Fischer, she could not be convicted of capital murder. The jury had no evidence that Cisneros hired the assassins since her only contact was through Martínez. The jury analyzed the circumstantial evidence that linked Puentes Pizaña or Olivarez to the murder. They knew the pair registered at the motel the night before the murder, and left the motel a few hours after Fischer was killed. They also heard they drove a car with a similar description as the one seen at the crime scene, and made several phone calls to the same Dallas number as Garza after the killing, and that Garza said he paid the assassins at a motel. This evidence cast suspicion on the two alleged hit-men, but was not enough to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Puentes Pizaña or Olivarez were behind Fischer's murder. The court also recognized that even if Puentes Pizaña or Olivarez were found guilty of the murder, there was not enough evidence to show that Cisneros employed the two or was ever in contact with them.[16] The jury recognized there was evidence that she gave money to Martínez, who in turn gave it to Garza, but that meant there were several parties at fault. In order for the jury to find Cisneros responsible for the actions of another party, the judge needed to charge the jury on the Texas law of parties that she was "acting a party to the offense".[87]

Prosecutors agreed that Cisneros was guilty under the law of parties — that she was guilty of the crime of murder even though she did not commit the crime directly. However, prosecutors failed to word her charge appropriately, suggesting that Cisneros "directly" hired Puentes Pizaña and Olivarez to murder Fischer instead of working through intermediaries.[88] On February 14, a state appeals court in Corpus Christi ordered Cisneros released on a US$50,000 bond, about one-sixth of the original bond posted for her trial. The order stated that the prosecution did not agree to the bail, but the document stated they had failed to file the appropriate paperwork within the mandatory ten days.[89] On February 22, a judge ordered her released from prison. She was unavailable for comment, and it was not known if she returned to Brownsville.[90] Fischer's family denounced the ruling and said the appeals court "seemed to have lost sight" that their son was killed.[91] Brownsville prosecutors said even if there was not enough evidence to convict Cisneros for capital murder, she could still be convicted of ordinary murder, since the appeal was approved because there was no direct evidence linking Cisneros with a murder-for-hire charge.[92] The reversal was upheld by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in November 1996.[93]

On February 24, 2000, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (5th Circuit), acting sua sponte (on their own accord), decided to rehear Cisneros' sentence en banc (before the entire court). After reviewing the case, they reaffirmed the conviction on January 4, 2001. A petition for a rehearing was denied by the court on February 2, 2001. Her defense filed a writ of certiorari, seeking a judicial court review, on April 4, 2001.[35] On June 19, 2001, Cisneros' defense filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court to review her conviction and have it overturned. They claimed that the U.S. federal government did not have jurisdiction over her case because there was no evidence of foreign commerce to invoke federal jurisdiction.[109] Cisneros' attorney stated that the evidence brought forward from the prosecution showed that the murder arrangements were made in Texas, and that the murderers traveled from Dallas to Brownsville—not Mexico—before the murder.[110] Since the U.S. Supreme Court only reviews a few hundred cases out of the thousands of requests it receives each year, this appeal was Cisneros' last attempt to have her conviction overturned.[109] The 5th Circuit refused to consider the appeal on October 3.[110] The U.S. Supreme Court denied her request for an appeal a second time on November 10, 2008,[111] bringing the case to full closure.[112][113]

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Cisneros was jailed in the Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee, Florida.[114][115] She is now at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell with BOP#77877-079.[116] Years after her imprisonment, she maintained that she did not order Fischer's murder.[117] Martínez, a non-US citizen subject to deportation as a result of her conviction,[58] was released from prison in April 2001 and later died in Matamoros. Garza, who was sentenced to life in prison, turned to religion and became a devout Catholic. In a letter written to the press in 2013, he thanked God for saving his life after two ruptured stomach ulcers, and a heart attack that nearly killed him in 2012. He was imprisoned at the age of 42 and will not be eligible for parole until June 2028 (when he will be 78 years old).[1][25] He has spent time in several Texas prisons, including the Louis C. Powledge Unit,[118] the Terrell Unit,[119] and the Eastham Unit.[120]

Inside the gymnasium of Fischer's former school is a gold plaque that reads:[1]

May the serenity of the peaceful oceans and the warmth of the deep blue skies embrace you in the realms of heaven. May you light heavenly skies with love and enthusiasm as you lit ours for eighteen years. May the angels welcome you with open arms and joyous voices. We love you, Joey. – Class of 1993 & Class of 1994