Florida Senate - 2010                              (NP)    SB 36
       
       
       
       By Senator Crist
       
       
       
       
       12-00175-10                                             201036__
    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;
    4         providing for an appropriation to compensate Ashraf
    5         Kamel and Marguerite Dimitri for the wrongful death of
    6         their minor child, Jean A. Pierre Kamel, as a result
    7         of the negligence of the Palm Beach County School
    8         Board; providing a limitation on the payment of fees
    9         and costs; providing an 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 are
   74  found and declared to be true.
   75         Section 2. The Palm Beach County School Board is authorized
   76  and directed to appropriate from funds of the school board not
   77  otherwise encumbered and to draw a warrant payable to Ashraf
   78  Kamel, as personal representative of the Estate of Jean A.
   79  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 authorized
   85  and directed to appropriate from funds of the school board not
   86  otherwise encumbered and to draw a warrant payable to Marguerite
   87  Dimitri for the amount of $180,000, to compensate Marguerite
   88  Dimitri for injuries and damages sustained due to the death of
   89  Jean A. Pierre Kamel, minor son of Ashraf Kamel and Marguerite
   90  Dimitri, as a result of the negligence of the school board.
   91         Section 4. The amount paid by the Palm Beach County School
   92  Board pursuant to s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and the amounts
   93  awarded under this act are intended to provide the sole
   94  compensation for all present and future claims arising out of
   95  the factual situation described in this act which resulted in
   96  the death of Jean A. Pierre Kamel. The total amount paid for
   97  attorney’s fees, lobbying fees, costs, and other similar
   98  expenses relating to this claim may not exceed 25 percent of the
   99  total amounts awarded under this act.
  100         Section 5. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.