HB 767

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act for the relief of Ashraf Kamel and Marguerite
3	Dimitri by the Palm Beach County School Board; providing
4	for an appropriation to compensate Ashraf Kamel and
5	Marguerite Dimitri for the wrongful death of their minor
6	child, Jean A. Pierre Kamel, as a result of the negligence
7	of the Palm Beach County School Board; providing a
8	limitation on attorney's fees, lobbying fees, costs, and
9	other similar expenses relating to the claim; providing an
10	effective date.
11
12	WHEREAS, Jean A. Pierre Kamel, age 13, was killed on
13	January 27, 1997, when he was shot by 14-year-old Tronneal
14	Mangum in front of Conniston Middle School, a Palm Beach County
15	public school, and
16	WHEREAS, Jean A. Pierre Kamel's surviving father, Ashraf
17	Kamel, brought a wrongful-death action against the Palm Beach
18	County School Board, seeking damages for Marguerite Dimitri,
19	Jean's mother, and himself for their anguish and mental pain and
20	suffering due to the tragic death of their minor son, and
21	WHEREAS, before the shooting occurred, Tronneal Mangum and
22	Jean Kamel, both of whom were students at Conniston, had a prior
23	confrontation, namely Mangum's kicking Jean Kamel in his
24	prosthetic leg, and
25	WHEREAS, Jean Kamel and Tronneal Mangum met with a guidance
26	counselor and told the counselor that Mangum had a watch that
27	belonged to Jean Kamel, and
28	WHEREAS, Jean Kamel told an agent or employee of the school
29	board that "Tronneal is out to get me" just days before he was
30	shot and killed, and
31	WHEREAS, on the day of the shooting, Tronneal Mangum
32	traveled to Conniston Middle School on the school bus with a
33	loaded firearm and entered school property carrying the weapon,
34	and
35	WHEREAS, the Palm Beach County School Board was on notice
36	that students had brought firearms to Conniston Middle School on
37	previous occasions, and
38	WHEREAS, on February 8, 2002, a Palm Beach County jury
39	found that the Palm Beach County School Board was negligent and
40	80-percent liable for the death of Jean Kamel, and that Jean
41	Kamel was 20-percent comparatively negligent for his own death,
42	and
43	WHEREAS, the same jury determined that the amount of
44	damages of Ashraf Kamel and Marguerite Dimitri for their anguish
45	and mental pain and suffering as a result of the negligence of
46	the Palm Beach County School Board was $2 million, and
47	WHEREAS, on February 22, 2002, the circuit court reduced
48	the jury verdict to final judgment in the sum of $1,602,400,
49	based on the offset for 20-percent comparative negligence, and
50	WHEREAS, on May 14, 2002, the circuit court entered a cost
51	judgment in favor of Ashraf Kamel in the amount of $13,490, and
52	WHEREAS, the Palm Beach County School Board appealed the
53	final judgment, and the Fourth District Court of Appeal rejected
54	the appeal in a per curiam affirmed opinion issued on February
55	12, 2003, and
56	WHEREAS, on February 27, 2003, the Palm Beach County School
57	Board filed a Motion for Rehearing and Certification of Issues
58	of Great Public Importance, which was denied by the Fourth
59	District Court of Appeal on March 20, 2003, and
60	WHEREAS, on April 17, 2003, the Palm Beach County School
61	Board tendered to Ashraf Kamel, as personal representative of
62	the Estate of Jean A. Pierre Kamel, a payment of $200,000, in
63	accordance with the statutory limits of liability set forth in
64	s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and
65	WHEREAS, Ashraf Kamel and Marguerite Dimitri and the Palm
66	Beach County School Board agreed to settle the claim for a total
67	of $560,000, and
68	WHEREAS, Ashraf Kamel, as personal representative of the
69	Estate of Jean A. Pierre Kamel, seeks satisfaction of the
70	$360,000 balance of the settlement agreement, NOW, THEREFORE,
71
72	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
73
74	Section 1.  The facts stated in the preamble to this act
75	are found and declared to be true.
76	Section 2.  (1)  The Palm Beach County School Board is
77	authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the school
78	board not otherwise encumbered and to draw a warrant payable to
79	Ashraf Kamel, as personal representative of the Estate of Jean
80	A. Pierre Kamel, for the total amount of $180,000, to compensate
81	Ashraf Kamel for injuries and damages sustained due to the death
82	of Jean A. Pierre Kamel, minor son of Ashraf Kamel and
83	Marguerite Dimitri, as a result of the negligence of the school
84	board.
85	(2)  The Palm Beach County School Board is authorized and
86	directed to appropriate from funds of the school board not
87	otherwise encumbered and to draw a warrant payable to Marguerite
88	Dimitri for the amount of $180,000, to compensate Marguerite
89	Dimitri for injuries and damages sustained due to the death of
90	Jean A. Pierre Kamel, minor son of Ashraf Kamel and Marguerite
91	Dimitri, as a result of the negligence of the school board.
92
93	Any amount paid by the Palm Beach County School Board pursuant
94	to the waiver of sovereign immunity permitted under s. 768.28,
95	Florida Statutes, and this award are intended to provide the
96	sole compensation for all present and future claims arising out
97	of the factual situation described in the preamble to this act
98	which resulted in the death of Jean A. Pierre Kamel. The total
99	amount paid for attorney's fees, lobbying fees, costs, and other
100	similar expenses relating to this claim may not exceed 25
101	percent of the total amount awarded under subsections (1) and
102	(2).
103	Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.