Dave Shirk is a visual effects supervisor. Shirk and his fellow visual effects artists are won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for the 2013 film Gravity... (wikipedia)
I think the fact that a woman is being considered for a death-penalty case, for whatever reason, will probably resonate very strongly in Mexico, in a way that will surprise many Americans.
Was it a success or a failure? On one hand, it was a failure because it didn't shut down all economic activity in California. On the other hand, it is a success because nobody really felt like this was an unreasonable act of civil disobedience.