## Facts

- David Madrid Fierro encountered Ray Montez while Montez and his wife were riding with Victor Corella in Phoenix on August 18, 1977.
- Fierro told Montez that his “brother” in the “M” (Mexican Mafia) had instructed him to kill Corella.
- Montez drove away as Fierro spoke with Corella outside the car; Fierro then shot Corella once in the chest and four times in the head.
- Corella was taken to a hospital, underwent surgery for chest-wound bleeding, and was placed on support systems.
- Physicians determined Corella had sustained brain death; after confirmatory studies, supportive measures were discontinued, and Corella was pronounced dead on August 22, 1977.
- At trial, the treating physician and the medical examiner attributed the cause of death to multiple gunshot wounds to the head.
- Montez reported the shooting to his probation officer after learning Corella was still being reported as alive.
- A jury convicted Fierro of first-degree murder, and the trial court imposed a life sentence.

## Issues

1. Whether the evidence was sufficient for the jury to find that Fierro’s shootings caused Corella’s death, where life support was withdrawn after brain death.
2. Whether allowing testimony from two attorneys who previously represented Fierro was reversible error (including privilege and prejudice concerns).
3. Whether expert testimony about the Mexican Mafia was properly admitted to explain motive and context.
4. Whether limits on defense evidence and examination improperly restricted the defense and denied a fair trial.

## Decision

- The Arizona Supreme Court affirmed the first-degree murder conviction and life sentence.
- The evidence supported causation and death; withdrawal of life support after brain death did not break the causal chain from the shootings to death.
- The trial court did not commit reversible error by allowing testimony from Fierro’s former attorneys.
- The trial court acted within its discretion in admitting expert testimony concerning the Mexican Mafia.
- Any restrictions on defense evidence or examination were within the trial court’s control of proceedings and were not reversible error.

## Legal Principles

- A defendant remains legally responsible for homicide when the victim’s fatal injuries cause brain death; later withdrawal of artificial life support is not a superseding cause.
- Medical testimony establishing brain death and attributing death to the inflicted injuries can support a jury’s finding of causation beyond a reasonable doubt.
- Expert testimony on a criminal organization may be admitted when it assists the jury on matters outside common knowledge and is relevant to motive or context, subject to prejudice controls.
- Alleged errors involving testimony by prior counsel and limits on defense proof warrant reversal only if they violate protected communications or otherwise prejudice substantial rights.

## Conclusion

The court upheld Fierro’s murder conviction, holding that the gunshot wounds legally caused the victim’s death notwithstanding post-injury life support, and that the challenged evidentiary rulings and trial-management decisions fell within the trial court’s discretion and did not warrant reversal.


State v. Fierro, 603 P.2d 74 (Ariz. 1979)