United States v. Robert E. Gooding

THORNBERRY, Circuit Judge:

Appellant Robert Gooding was convicted after a jury trial of conspiracy 1 to violate the Travel Act 2 and of committing a substantive Travel Act offense by travelling between states with intent to commit extortion. 3 On this appeal he argues, first, that the evidence was insufficient to support the convictions because no connection between the extortion and a “business enterprise” was proved and because no substantial relation was shown between his interstate travel and the extortion offense. Secondly, he argues that the trial court erred in denying his challenge to…