Opinion
3:22-CV-3058
12-09-2022
RAY D. WOLFE PLAINTIFF v. STATE OF ARKANSAS c/o GOVERNOR ASA HUTCHINSON; STATE OF MISSOURI c/o GOVERNOR MIKE PARSON; MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE c/o WAYNE WALLINGFORD; GAIL INMAN CAMPBELL, Individually and Professionally as Judge for Boone County, Arkansas; PATRICIA VIRNIG, Individually and Professionally as Prosecuting Attorney for Boone County, Arkansas; and MATTHEW SHELEY, Individually and Professionally as Arkansas State Trooper DEFENDANTS
ORDER
TIMOTHY L. BROOKS, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Now before the Court are a Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 6) and Brief in Support (Doc. 7) filed by the State of Arkansas; Patricia Virnig, a prosecuting attorney for Boone County, Arkansas; and Matthew Sheley, an Arkansas State Trooper. Also before the Court are a Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 9) and Brief in Support (Doc. 10) filed by the State of Missouri and the Missouri Department of Revenue. Plaintiff Ray D. Wolfe, representing himself pro se, filed responses to both Motions (Docs. 11 & 14).
According to the Complaint, Mr. Wolfe, a citizen of Missouri, was driving on a highway just south of Harrison, Arkansas, when Trooper Sheley pulled him over for speeding. Mr. Wolfe handed Trooper Sheley his license, registration, and proof of insurance, and after a short while, Trooper Sheley issued him a speeding ticket and a warning “to keep [a] current license on plaintiffs truck.” (Doc. 2, ¶ 10).
Mr. Wolfe disputed the ticket. He did not believe he was speeding. However, instead of contesting the ticket in court, he went home to Missouri, wrote on the ticket, “this receipt is null and void,” and then returned it, presumably by mail. Id. at ¶ 12. He then put the matter out of his mind, hoping “this citation was dismissed.” Id. at ¶ 14. Of course, he was wrong. The Missouri Department of Revenue sent him “a letter stating that his driver's license would be suspended on 7 November 2022 unless he took care of the alleged charges in the State of Arkansas, County of Boone.” Id.
Obviously, Mr. Wolfe had two choices when he received the speeding ticket: (1) pay it or (2) appear in traffic court to contest it. He did neither. As a result, an Arkansas county judge issued a warrant for Mr. Wolfe's failure to appear in court on the traffic violation. Though Mr. Wolfe only has himself to blame for this predicament, he instead blames Trooper Sheley, the State of Arkansas, the State of Missouri, the county prosecutor, and the state court judge and demands they pay him $1,000,000.00 for violating his constitutional rights, defaming him, and causing him emotional distress. Mr. Wolfe maintains he “is not bound by any institutions formed [by] his fellowman without his consent.” Id. at ¶ 18. In other words, he thinks laws do not apply to him.
To avoid dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6), “a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.'” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007)). A pleading containing mere “labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555; see also Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (“Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice” and are “not entitled to the assumption of truth.”).
The Court finds that the facts in the Complaint, assumed as true, fail to state any valid legal claims. IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the Motions to Dismiss (Docs. 6 & 9) are GRANTED, and this case is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6). All claims and Defendants not specifically mentioned in the Motions are dismissed by the Court sua sponte on the same basis.
IT IS SO ORDERED.