Student takes lawyer Cheney Mason's murder-case dare seriously - Orlando Sentinel

A surveillance video captured Serrano at an Atlanta hotel the day of the murders.

During the 2006 trial, the prosecution explained Serrano's complicated murder plot, which involved his buying airline tickets under three names from Orlando and Tampa airports so he could appear to be in Atlanta the afternoon of the slayings.

The route involved Serrano flying from Atlanta to Orlando, driving to Bartow, where the murders occurred, and then catching a flight back to Atlanta.

Serrano's defense argued there was no way Serrano could have committed the murders and make it back to Atlanta, where he was recorded at the hotel.

Kolodziej, who just graduated from South Texas College of Law, said he retraced Serrano's route across two states and made the final leg of the journey within the required time. He taped his excursion and sent the video to Mason along with a letter demanding the $1 million. Mason, according to the lawsuit, refused to pay more than once.

On Monday, Mason had yet to be served with the suit. But after reading a copy provided by the Orlando Sentinel, Mason called it "ridiculous."

"I'm really unconcerned about it," Mason said. "When it's over, somebody or some group of people out there are going to have to face the consequences of filing such a false, stupid lawsuit."

As outlandish as it seems, legal experts say there are plenty of cases like it.

Robert Jerry, dean of the University of Florida's Levin College of Law, said there are situations throughout the history of contract law in which people made bluffs, bets or challenges, and courts found the person who heard the statement was reasonable in thinking the speaker was serious.