Opinion ID: 3066451
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Love

Text: J. Gregory Love was the Administrator of the DCRA Building and Land Regulation Administration until his retirement in November 2002. The district court denied Elkins’s motion for summary judgment against Love, finding there were factual disputes about his connection to the seizure of the notebook. But when Elkins agreed not to proceed to trial, the district court dismissed her claim against Love: Elkins had presented enough evidence to get to a jury, but not enough for judgment in her favor as a matter of law. Elkins V, 710 F. Supp. 2d at 62. On appeal, Elkins argues that the district court erred in denying her motion for summary judgment against Love, relying entirely, as did the district court, on two pieces of evidence: Love’s May 2002 instruction to Vincent Ford, DCRA’s chief building inspector, to “find a way” to stop the work at Elkins’s home, and an October 2002 email the District’s counsel sent to Love and others asking about next steps for enforcement actions against 17 Elkins. See id. Neither connects Love to a decision to seize documents or even to seek a search warrant, and there is no other evidence to contradict Love’s testimony that he was not involved in either of those decisions. See Haynes v. Williams, 392 F.3d 478 (D.C. Cir. 2004) (“The possibility that a jury might speculate in the plaintiff’s favor is insufficient to defeat summary judgment.”). Indeed, Love retired four months before the warrant was even sought. If the court erred it was by failing to grant summary judgment to Love. There was no error in denying summary judgment against him and, instead, dismissing him from the case.