HB 1353

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 for
8	payment of court costs; providing an effective date.
9
10	WHEREAS, Jean A. Pierre Kamel, age 13, was killed on
11	January 27, 1997, when he was shot by 14-year-old Tronneal
12	Mangum in front of Conniston Middle School, a Palm Beach County
13	public school, and
14	WHEREAS, Jean A. Pierre Kamel's surviving father, Ashraf
15	Kamel, brought a wrongful-death action against the Palm Beach
16	County School Board, seeking damages for Marguerite Dimitri,
17	Jean's mother, and himself for their anguish and mental pain and
18	suffering due to the tragic death of their minor son, and
19	WHEREAS, before the shooting occurred, the Palm Beach
20	County School Board was on notice that Tronneal Mangum and Jean
21	Kamel, both of whom were students at Conniston, had had numerous
22	prior violent confrontations, including Mangum's kicking Jean
23	Kamel in his prosthetic leg, and
24	WHEREAS, the Palm Beach County School Board was on notice
25	that Jean Kamel and Tronneal Mangum had had a specific conflict
26	because of which the students met with a guidance counselor and
27	told the counselor that Mangum had a watch that belonged to Jean
28	Kamel, and
29	WHEREAS, the Palm Beach County School Board, through its
30	agents or employees, was negligent in directing Tronneal Mangum
31	to personally return the watch to Jean Kamel the next day
32	without the supervision or intervention of the school board, and
33	WHEREAS, the Palm Beach County School Board was on notice
34	that Jean Kamel was fearful of Tronneal Mangum when he told an
35	agent or employee of the school board that "Tronneal is out to
36	get me" just days before he was shot and killed, and
37	WHEREAS, the Palm Beach County School Board was on notice
38	that Tronneal Mangum lived in an area of West Palm Beach that
39	has the highest incidence of crime, violence, and use and
40	availability of firearms, and
41	WHEREAS, on the day of the shooting, Tronneal Mangum
42	traveled to Conniston Middle School on the school bus with a
43	loaded firearm and entered school property carrying the weapon,
44	and
45	WHEREAS, the Palm Beach County School Board was on notice
46	that students had brought firearms to Conniston Middle School on
47	previous occasions, and
48	WHEREAS, on the date of the shooting, the Palm Beach County
49	School Board failed to adequately supervise the students, in
50	that agents or employees were not at their assigned posts,
51	specifically, an armed police officer was not at the officer's
52	post in front of the school where the shooting occurred, and
53	WHEREAS, the Palm Beach County School Board had a duty to
54	take reasonable steps to protect its students, including Jean
55	Kamel, from violence by other students while the students were
56	on school premises for a reasonable time before classes
57	commenced, and
58	WHEREAS, the Palm Beach County School Board was found to be
59	negligent and to have failed to take reasonable steps to protect
60	Jean Kamel, a physically handicapped student, from violence and
61	harm by Tronneal Mangum, and
62	WHEREAS, as a result of the school board's negligence and
63	failure to take reasonable steps to protect Jean Kamel, he was
64	shot to death by Tronneal Mangum on school property within
65	minutes before classes were scheduled to begin, and
66	WHEREAS, on February 8, 2002, a Palm Beach County jury
67	found that the Palm Beach County School Board was negligent and
68	80-percent liable for the death of Jean Kamel, and that Jean
69	Kamel was 20-percent comparatively negligent for his own death,
70	and
71	WHEREAS, the same jury determined that the damages of
72	Ashraf Kamel and Marguerite Dimitri for their anguish and mental
73	pain and suffering as a result of the negligence of the Palm
74	Beach County School Board was $2 million, and
75	WHEREAS, on February 22, 2002, the circuit court reduced
76	the jury verdict to final judgment in the sum of $1,602,400,
77	based on the offset for 20-percent comparative negligence, and
78	WHEREAS, on May 14, 2002, the circuit court entered a cost
79	judgment in favor of Ashraf Kamel in the amount of $13,490, and
80	WHEREAS, the Palm Beach County School Board appealed the
81	final judgment, and the Fourth District Court of Appeal rejected
82	the appeal in a per curiam affirmed opinion issued on February
83	12, 2003, and
84	WHEREAS, on February 27, 2003, the Palm Beach County School
85	Board filed a Motion for Rehearing and Certification of Issues
86	of Great Public Importance, which was denied by the Fourth
87	District Court of Appeal on March 20, 2003, and
88	WHEREAS, on April 17, 2003, the Palm Beach County School
89	Board tendered to Ashraf Kamel, as personal representative of
90	the Estate of Jean A. Pierre Kamel, a payment of $200,000, in
91	accordance with the statutory limits of liability set forth in
92	s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and
93	WHEREAS, the remaining balance of the judgment is
94	$1,402,400, plus court costs in the amount of $13,490, and
95	WHEREAS, Ashraf Kamel, as personal representative of the
96	Estate of Jean A. Pierre Kamel, seeks satisfaction of the
97	balance of the judgment, NOW, THEREFORE,
98
99	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
100
101	Section 1.  The facts stated in the preamble to this act
102	are found and declared to be true.
103	Section 2.  The Palm Beach County School Board is
104	authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the school
105	board not otherwise appropriated and to draw a warrant payable
106	to Ashraf Kamel, as personal representative of the Estate of
107	Jean A. Pierre Kamel, for the total amount of $1,402,400, to
108	compensate Ashraf Kamel and Marguerite Dimitri for injuries and
109	damages sustained due to the death of Jean A. Pierre Kamel,
110	minor son of Ashraf Kamel and Marguerite Dimitri, as a result of
111	the negligence of the school board.
112	Section 3.  The Palm Beach County School Board is
113	authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the school
114	board not otherwise appropriated and to draw a warrant payable
115	to Ashraf Kamel for the amount of $13,490, to be paid as court
116	costs incurred in the legal action arising out of the wrongful
117	death of Jean A. Pierre Kamel, minor son of Ashraf Kamel and
118	Marguerite Dimitri.
119	Section 4.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

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