Fla. justices hearing Ecuadorian's death appeal

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A businessman with dual U.S.-Ecuadorian citizenship is appealing his death sentence and four murder convictions to the Florida Supreme Court.

A lawyer hired by Ecuador’s government Tuesday was set to argue that Nelson Serrano had been illegally tried because authorities had “kidnapped” him from Ecuador in 2002.

Ecuador does not allow the extradition of fugitives facing the death penalty. The state contends that his return to Florida was legal because he is a U.S. citizen.

Serrano was convicted of killing four people at a Bartow factory in 1997 over a business relationship that went sour.