A Rancho Santa Margarita man filed a lawsuit against Orange County, Sheriff Sandra Hutchens and a deputy who shot him outside his home last year following a high-speed chase on the plaintiff's motorcycle.

Dennis Mitchell Mueller was shot March 10, 2012, in a cul-de-sac in the 32000 block of Meadow Park Lane. He pleaded guilty in October to evading authorities while driving recklessly and was sentenced to 180 days in jail and three years of formal probation. Orange County prosecutors concluded last month that Deputy Manuel Cruz was justified when he shot Mueller.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, alleges Mueller's civil rights and his Fourth and 14th Amendment rights were violated and that he was a victim of battery. The lawsuit accuses Cruz of "intentionally and maliciously fabricating and reporting the events of the shooting," as well as "attempting to kill plaintiff."

Mueller was "unarmed, was not attempting to escape, had not committed a felony involving violence, and was not an immediate threat to himself or others," the lawsuit alleges. "Further, by conducting himself in this manner, defendant Cruz risked injury or killing other nearby residents." The lawsuit also faults Hutchens for putting Cruz back on active duty after the shooting and not disciplining him.

The lawsuit also claims Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas' office carried out an investigation of the shooting that "was designed to protect defendant County of Orange and which was not designed to seek out the truth of this unlawful shooting and violations of constitutional rights ... (and) to aid in a cover-up of the truth."

The lawsuit claims investigators were directed to avoid interviewing witnesses who might "tend to demonstrate the unlawfulness of the shooting."

Mueller, who was 20 at the time, failed to pull over for Cruz about noon the day of the shooting on Santa Margarita Parkway in Rancho Santa Margarita, according to Deputy District Attorney John Christl, who investigated the deputy- involved shooting. Mueller fled, reaching speeds up to 100 mph, Christl said. Mueller passed through two red lights during the chase as Cruz lost sight of him, according to Christl.