The legal battle between the U.S. Episcopal Church and the breakaway Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin over who owns church property will return to Fresno County Superior Court, the 5th District Court of Appeal ruled Thursday.
The appellate justices tossed out a Superior Court judge’s decision that the breakaway diocese couldn’t claim a right to the property in a jury trial. The judge essentially had decided that it was a church matter, not a matter for the civil courts.