HB 587

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 bullying and tragic death of their minor
20	son, who was physically disabled, while he was in the care and
21	custody of the Palm Beach County School Board, and
22	WHEREAS, before the shooting occurred, Tronneal Mangum and
23	Jean Kamel, both of whom were students at Conniston, had at
24	least one prior confrontation that was known by school
25	officials, namely Mangum's kicking Jean Kamel in his prosthetic
26	leg, and
27	WHEREAS, Jean Kamel and Tronneal Mangum met with a guidance
28	counselor and told the counselor that Mangum had a watch that
29	belonged to Jean Kamel, and
30	WHEREAS, Jean Kamel warned an employee of the school board
31	that "Tronneal is out to get me" just days before he was shot
32	and killed, and
33	WHEREAS, the school board failed to take any corrective
34	action despite being on notice of the bullying of Jean Kamel by
35	Tronneal Mangum and of the threats, and
36	WHEREAS, on the day of the shooting, Tronneal Mangum
37	traveled to Conniston Middle School on the school bus with a
38	loaded firearm and entered school property carrying the weapon,
39	and
40	WHEREAS, the Palm Beach County School Board was on notice
41	that students had brought firearms to Conniston Middle School on
42	previous occasions and did nothing to stop it, and
43	WHEREAS, on February 8, 2002, a Palm Beach County jury
44	found that the Palm Beach County School Board was negligent and
45	80 percent liable for the death of Jean Kamel, and that Jean
46	Kamel was 20 percent comparatively negligent for his own death,
47	and
48	WHEREAS, the same jury determined that the amount of
49	damages of Ashraf Kamel and Marguerite Dimitri for their anguish
50	and mental pain and suffering as a result of the negligence of
51	the Palm Beach County School Board was $2 million, and
52	WHEREAS, on February 22, 2002, the circuit court reduced
53	the jury verdict to final judgment in the sum of $1,602,400,
54	based on the offset for 20 percent comparative negligence, and
55	WHEREAS, on May 14, 2002, the circuit court entered a cost
56	judgment in favor of Ashraf Kamel in the amount of $13,490, and
57	WHEREAS, the Palm Beach County School Board appealed the
58	final judgment, and the Fourth District Court of Appeal rejected
59	the appeal in a per curiam affirmed opinion issued on February
60	12, 2003, and
61	WHEREAS, on February 27, 2003, the Palm Beach County School
62	Board filed a Motion for Rehearing and Certification of Issues
63	of Great Public Importance, which was denied by the Fourth
64	District Court of Appeal on March 20, 2003, and
65	WHEREAS, on April 17, 2003, the Palm Beach County School
66	Board tendered to Ashraf Kamel, as personal representative of
67	the Estate of Jean A. Pierre Kamel, a payment of $200,000, in
68	accordance with the statutory limits of liability set forth in
69	s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and
70	WHEREAS, Ashraf Kamel and Marguerite Dimitri and the Palm
71	Beach County School Board agreed to settle the claim for a total
72	of $560,000, and
73	WHEREAS, Ashraf Kamel, as personal representative of the
74	Estate of Jean A. Pierre Kamel, seeks satisfaction of the
75	$360,000 balance of the settlement agreement, NOW, THEREFORE,
76
77	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
78
79	Section 1.  The facts stated in the preamble to this act
80	are found and declared to be true.
81	Section 2.  The Palm Beach County School Board is
82	authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the school
83	board not otherwise encumbered and to draw a warrant payable to
84	Ashraf Kamel, as personal representative of the Estate of Jean
85	A. Pierre Kamel, for the total amount of $180,000, to compensate
86	Ashraf Kamel for injuries and damages sustained due to the death
87	of Jean A. Pierre Kamel, minor son of Ashraf Kamel and
88	Marguerite Dimitri, as a result of the negligence of the school
89	board.
90	Section 3.  The Palm Beach County School Board is
91	authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the school
92	board not otherwise encumbered and to draw a warrant payable to
93	Marguerite Dimitri for the amount of $180,000, to compensate
94	Marguerite Dimitri for injuries and damages sustained due to the
95	death of Jean A. Pierre Kamel, minor son of Ashraf Kamel and
96	Marguerite Dimitri, as a result of the negligence of the school
97	board.
98	Section 4.  The amounts awarded in this act are intended to
99	provide the sole compensation for all present and future claims
100	arising out of the factual situation described in this act which
101	resulted in the death of Jean A. Pierre Kamel. The total amount
102	paid for attorney's fees, lobbying fees, costs, and other
103	similar expenses relating to this claim may not exceed 25
104	percent of the total amounts awarded under this act.
105	Section 5.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

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