United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 20-3167 ___________________________ United States of America Plaintiff - Appellee v. Robert J. Gross Defendant - Appellant ____________ Appeal from United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri - Kansas City ____________ Submitted: September 24, 2021 Filed: January 24, 2022 ____________ Before KELLY, ERICKSON, and GRASZ, Circuit Judges. ____________ KELLY, Circuit Judge. In May 2019, a jury convicted Robert Gross of two counts of interstate stalking (Counts 1 and 2), 18 U.S.C. §§ 2261A(1)(B) and 2261(b), and six counts related to his unlawful receipt and possession of firearms. The district court sentenced him to a total of 420 months of imprisonment. Gross appeals, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence on Counts 1 and 2, alleging error in the denial of his motion for new trial, and arguing that his sentence is substantively unreasonable. I. Gross was charged in a Superseding Indictment with four counts of interstate stalking (Counts 1–4), alleging that he stalked four different women by traveling from his residence in Missouri to Kansas with the intent to harass and intimidate each of them, causing substantial emotional distress. 1 Counts 1 and 2 arose out of Gross’s conduct toward Yuling Liu and Chunqiu Wu, 2 respectively. At trial, Wu testified that in 2017 she operated three massage parlors in Kansas, and Gross was a regular customer at all three. One of the parlors was called Tea Spa Massage, and this was where Liu worked. On the morning of October 1, 2017, Gross went to Tea Spa Massage. When he arrived, Liu was the only employee there and Gross was the only customer. Surveillance video from the reception area at Tea Spa Massage that morning showed both Gross and Liu. Gross was naked, walking down the parlor’s hallway and out of view, and then going into a room off the reception area. Liu closed the door behind him. Gross came back out, saw Liu was eating, and said he thought the parlor was “open for business” and that he would “come back later.” Liu gave him his money back but told him that the parlor was indeed open. Gross then became upset, and began to call Liu a “bitch,” tell her she was stupid, and berate her for eating breakfast when he wanted a massage. He asked her personal questions and then called her a liar when she answered. He also threatened to report her to immigration for various violations and have her sent “back to China.” 1 Gross was also charged with three counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon (Counts 5, 7, and 9), 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2), and three counts of receiving a firearm while under indictment (Counts 6, 8, and 10), 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(n) and 924(a)(1)(D). 2 On appeal, the parties refer to Yuling Liu and Chunqiu Wu as “Liu” and “Wu” respectively. We adopt this naming convention for purposes of consistency. -2- Liu offered to call Wu …
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