Opinion ID: 655784
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Case Against Dr. Kostrubala

Text: 9 The case against Dr. Kostrubala focused primarily on Duncan's receipt in March 1985 of a P-card, which conferred on him the privilege of moving about the grounds. Duncan committed the murder while out on the grounds pursuant to this P-card. Dr. Kostrubala argues that there was insufficient evidence to establish that he participated in the decision to grant grounds privileges to Duncan, and that therefore he did not fail to exercise professional judgment. We reject this argument. 10 The evidence at trial demonstrated that on December 13, 1984, Duncan's P-card was revoked for ninety days because he was found to be out of bounds with a female visitor. After this ninety-day period, Duncan's P-card was reissued. A written policy at NSH required that, before a revoked P-card was reissued, the patient had to be evaluated by his treatment team, and reissuance of the card had to be approved by the program director. Duncan's file, however, contained no record of any such assessment prior to the reissuance of his P-card on March 13, 1985. The plaintiffs' theory at trial was that the reissuance of Duncan's P-card without, at a minimum, compliance with the NSH policy, represented gross negligence and a substantial departure from accepted professional judgment. The plaintiffs presented substantial evidence that Kostrubala had the ultimate responsibility for the issuance of P-cards to penal code patients, and that Kostrubala was familiar with Duncan and his propensity for violence. The plaintiffs also presented evidence that, approximately two weeks before Conners's death, Kostrubala told the executive director of NSH that he was surprised that Duncan had a P-card; Kostrubala further stated that he intended to pull the card. Moreover, the plaintiffs provided expert testimony that supported their claim that Dr. Kostrubala's failure to prevent the reissuance of Duncan's P-card in March 1985 constituted such a substantial departure from accepted professional judgment that it was not based on professional judgment. This evidence and its inferences, viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs, reasonably supports the verdict against Kostrubala. Accordingly, we conclude that the district court did not err by denying his motion for JNOV. See The Jeanery, 849 F.2d at 1151. 1