Serrano v. State, 64 So. 3d 93

Nelson Serrano, a US- and Ecuadorian citizen, was indicted for four counts of first-degree murder in Florida for deaths at Erie Manufacturing and Garment Conveyor Systems in Bartow on December 3, 1997.
The victims were George Gonsalves, Frank Dosso, Diane Patisso, and George Patisso; Serrano had business ties with the Dosso and Gonsalves families as partner in Garment Conveyor Systems and Erie Manufacturing.
Serrano was arrested in Ecuador on August 31, 2002 and transported to the United States to stand trial.
Guilt-phase evidence linked Serrano to an alleged plan to establish an alibi involving travel to Atlanta and Orlando under aliases, a rental car arrangement by Alvaro Penaherrera, and travel and surveillance data.
The State argued Serrano actively planned and executed the murders in a cold, calculated manner, using a concealed gun and exploiting Serrano’s access to firearms and the Erie offices; Serrano denied involvement and claimed an Atlanta migraine-alibi.
At Spencer hearing, aggravating factors included CCP (cold, calculated, and premeditated) for all murders and a separate aggravator for avoid arrest; multiple statutory and nonstatutory mitigators were presented.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of circumstantial evidence	Serrano claims the circumstantial evidence does not exclude all innocence hypotheses.	State contends substantial evidence links Serrano to the murders and to his alibi weaknesses.	Serrano's convictions affirmed; evidence supported guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Admissibility of statements to FDLE Agent	Serrano argues Bradshaw/Edwards framework should exclude the statements.	Statements are admissible as non-prejudicial and cumulative.	Bradshaw error deemed harmless beyond a reasonable doubt; no relief warranted.
Jurisdiction and extradition claim	Serrano asserts illegal deportation from Ecuador divests jurisdiction under Ker-Frisbie doctrine.	State relies on Alvarez-Machain; no jurisdictional defect here.	Trial court properly denied divestiture of jurisdiction; jurisdiction valid.
Prosecutorial misconduct	Various comments and impeachment tactics improperly affected the jury.	Even if improper, errors were harmless or not preserved for appeal.	No reversible prosecutorial error; cumulative impact not enough to overturn.
Change of venue	Pretrial publicity rendered trial inherently prejudicial.	voir dire and protective measures mitigated prejudice; venue was proper.	Trial court did not abuse discretion in denying change of venue.

Reynolds v. State, 934 So.2d 1128 (Fla.2006) (standard for judgment of acquittal in circumstantial cases; threshold to rebut alibi)
Darling v. State, 808 So.2d 145 (Fla.2002) (circumstantial-evidence framework; allow reasonable hypotheses of innocence)
Law v. State, 559 So.2d 187 (Fla.1989) (evidence must rebut defendant’s theory; not every variation must be disproved)
Welch v. State, 992 So.2d 206 (Fla.2008) (presumption of correctness for historical facts; independent review of mixed questions)
Alvarez-Machain, 504 U.S. 655 (U.S. 1992) (foreign kidnapping does not automatically defeat jurisdiction under extradition treaties)
Frisbie v. Collins, 342 U.S. 519 (1952) (due process not defeated by forcible abduction when tried fairly)
Ker v. Illinois, 119 U.S. 436 (1886) (core rule on jurisdiction despite forcible abduction)
Toscanino, 500 F.2d 267 (2d Cir.1974) (extreme government misconduct exception to Ker-Frisbie)
Willacy v. State, 696 So.2d 693 (Fla.1997) (standard for reviewing aggravating factors on appeal)
Connor v. State, 803 So.2d 598 (Fla.2001) (application of aggravators and sentencing framework)
Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584 (2002) (constitutional considerations in capital sentencing)
Power v. State, 992 So.2d 218 (Fla.2008) (upholding Florida lethal-injection procedures)