Stevens

This is a wrongful death action by the heirs of Clifford L. Stevens and Robert W. Stevens, who died as a result of injuries sustained in a collision between their automobile and one driven by Fr. Copentipy, a missionary Catholic priest from Bayonne, France. The plaintiffs sued Fr. Copentipy and the Roman Catholic Bishop of Fresno, a corporation sole, hereinafter “Bishop of Fresno,” the latter on the basis of an alleged principal-agent relationship. At trial Fr. Copentipy stipulated to liability and the case went to the jury on the issues of the liability of the Bishop of Fresno, and damages. The jury returned substantial verdicts in favor of the plaintiffs and against Fr. Copentipy and the Bishop of Fresno. The motion of the bishop for a new trial and for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict was denied. The bishop has appealed.

Statement of Facts

For a number of years prior to the events in question, the Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Bayonne, France, had sent missionary priests to this country for the purpose of ministering to the religious, family and social needs of Basque Catholics living in the Western United States and to preserve their longstanding Catholic…