HB 177

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

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