Helsley

Appellant, Stephen Helsley, is an undercover agent for the Bureau of Narcotics of the State of California. He brought this action in the court below against respondents, the County of Kern and Kenneth Lisenbee, a deputy sheriff employed in the sheriff’s office of that county, to recover damages for personal injuries resulting from a gunshot wound sustained while appellant and Lisenbee were engaged in police business; appellant alleged that the injury was caused by the negligence of respondent Lisenbee.

After jury trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of respondents, and appellant has appealed from the judgment entered on the verdict. The court instructed the jury on proximate cause, negligence and contributory negligence, and the essence of appellant’s appeal is that the evidence shows, as a matter of law, that Lisenbee was negligent, that Lisenbee’s negligence was the proximate cause of appellant’s injury, that appellant was not contributorially negligent and that even if appellant was contributorially negligent, his contributory negligence was not a legal or proximate cause of the injury.

The facts, when viewed in the light most favorable to respondents, are…