Ketan Desai v. Ssm Health Care

A jury awarded plaintiff, Dr. Ketan Desai, damages of $75,000 for false imprisonment in his suit against SSM Health Care System, d/b/a Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital, and two parking lot security guards. The trial court granted defendants' motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, and plaintiff appealed. Desai contends the trial court erred in (1) granting JNOV on the false imprisonment claim, (2) granting defendants' motions to dismiss a punitive damage claim at the close of plaintiff's evidence, and (3) granting defendants' motions for partial summary judgment on a malicious prosecution claim following plaintiff's acquittal on a trespass charge. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand with directions. Dr. Desai completed medical school and a surgical residency in India, his place of birth. In 1987, following a fellowship in immunology at the Mayo Clinic, Desai came to St. Louis University for a residency and doctoral program. As part of graduate studies, Desai worked at St. Louis University Medical School's Institute of Molecular Virology. He was under the tutelage of a doctor whose office was in Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital, located in close proximity to the Institute. At approximately 10:30 p.m. on October 24, 1989, Desai was walking across the parking lot of Cardinal Glennon, apparently a shortcut, on his way to the Institute. He planned to tend to his research project and get a card for photocopying certain articles for his supervising doctor at Cardinal Glennon. Desai was wearing a blue jogging suit and tennis shoes, and he carried only his papers to copy and his keys. He did not have any identification.