Costello v. Kansas Highway Patrol

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF KANSAS

FRANCIS LEE COSTELLO, aka Michael Anthony Brockman,

Plaintiff,

v. CASE NO. 25-3067-JWL

KANSAS HIGHWAY PATROL, et al.,

Defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

Plaintiff brings this pro se civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff is in custody at the Saline County Jail in Salina, Kansas. The Court granted Plaintiff leave to proceed in forma pauperis. On June 17, 2025, the Court entered a Memorandum and Order to Show Cause (Doc. 17) (“MOSC”), ordering Plaintiff to show good cause why his Complaint should not be dismissed or stayed based on Younger abstention. This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff’s response (Doc. 20). Plaintiff’s response provides that this matter “shall be heard [b]ecause [he is] given a protection from plundering Governmental Highwaymen—stated plainly in our founding document—and if doctrines and interpretations over the years of common law litigations detract from the citizenry’s protection then they are therefore abusive.” (Doc. 20, at 2.) Plaintiff’s response fails to address Younger abstention or the Court’s finding that the Kansas Highway Patrol is not a proper defendant. Plaintiff does not ask this Court to stay this case pending resolution of his state court criminal proceedings. Plaintiff alleges a Fourth Amendment unreasonable search claim based on the search that resulted in his state criminal proceedings. The Court found in the MOSC that to the extent Plaintiff’s claims relate to his state criminal proceedings in Saline County, Kansas, the Court would be prohibited from hearing Plaintiff’s claims regarding his state court proceedings under Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37, 45 (1971). The Court found that online records showed that

Plaintiff’s criminal proceedings were ongoing. See State v. Brockman,1 Case No. SA-2024-CR- 000668 (District Court of Saline County, Kansas). The docket for Plaintiff’s Saline County criminal case shows that the case is still pending, with a pretrial conference scheduled for October 13, 2025, and trial scheduled for October 28, 2025. Id. The Court ordered Plaintiff to show good cause why the Court should not abstain from hearing his claims regarding his state court proceedings in the District Court of Saline County, Kansas. Plaintiff’s response does not address abstention or seek a stay of this case. IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that this matter is dismissed without prejudice. IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated August 6, 2025, in Kansas City, Kansas. S/ John W. Lungstrum JOHN W. LUNGSTRUM UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

1 Plaintiff filed an action in state court to change his name from Michael Anthony Brockman to Francis Lee Costello. See In the Matter of the Name Change of Francis Lee Costello, Case No. SA-2025-CV-000011 (District Court of Saline County, Kansas) (filed February 28, 2025). Plaintiff also has a pending state court case seeking to change his name again from Francis Lee Costello to Francesco Crosstihletto. See In the Matter of the Name Change of Francis Lee Costello, Case No. SA-2025-CV-000127 (District Court of Saline County, Kansas) (filed May 2, 2025). The latter case is set for hearing on August 13, 2025. Id.