A federal judge has made public his intent to throw out a Topeka man’s lawsuit seeking $32 million against defendants that include Topeka’s city government.

U.S. District Senior Judge Sam Crow issued a ruling Wednesday saying Joseph C. Wakefield failed to state a valid legal claim in the suit, which contended he was entitled to compensation because Topeka police failed to adequately investigate a situation in which a gun was pointed at him.

“The Supreme Court has repeatedly held there is no constitutional right to have law enforcement investigate and bring charges against another person,” Crow wrote.

He indicated he would dismiss the suit if Wakefield, within 14 days, didn’t file an amended complaint outlining a “plausible claim” against the defendants.

Wakefield acted as his own attorney on July 29 in filing the handwritten lawsuit petition against the City of Topeka; Topeka Police; then-city manager Jim Colson; Police Chief James Brown; Deputy Police Chief Brian Desch; Topeka police officer J. Whitehead; and “Jimmy Parker,” who Wakefield alleges pointed a gun at him after a vehicle collision.

Desch repeatedly told Wakefield that no action would be taken against Parker, Wakefield’s lawsuit said.

It alleged Wakefield’s rights were violated “Because I had a gun pointed at me and I feel that my life was threatened and Jimmy Parker should had been arrested and Topeka Police did not investigate my case in a timely manner.”

Crow ruled Wednesday on a motion to dismiss the case, which was brought by all defendants except Parker.

In addition to saying the claim wasn’t valid because citizens have no legal right to have law enforcement investigate a case, Crow wrote in Wednesday’s five-page ruling that Wakefield’s complaint failed to state a plausible claim of discrimination or retaliation because:

— It failed to allege what policies of the city of Topeka, or what actions of the defendants who sought the suit’s dismissal, caused the alleged violation of Wakefield’s civil rights.

— Though Wakefield claimed Parker was not arrested because of his race, he put forth no facts to support a plausible inference that the actions of the defendants other than Parker “were motivated by racial prejudice” in an effort to deprive Wakefield of his right to equal protection under the law.

The Capital-Journal was seeking to get a response to Crow’s ruling Monday from Topeka’s city government.

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