HB 1321

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

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