Former Arkansan convicted of attempted involuntary manslaughter in Japan fight

A federal jury in Little Rock found a 44-year-old former Arkansan guilty of attempted voluntary manslaughter after a bar fight in which authorities said he tried to snap an airman’s neck and then pummeled him in the face and stomped on his head, all in an effort to kill him.

Rodrigo Pineda Gomez, who has since moved with his family to Colorado, was found guilty of one count of attempted voluntary manslaughter; assault with a dangerous weapon, his shod foot, meaning encased in a shoe; three counts of misdemeanor assault by striking, beating or wounding; one count of resisting a federal officer; and one count of making a false statement to law enforcement.

Authorities said Gomez used Jiujitsu maneuvers, which he teaches, on airmen during a Dec. 31, 2016, brawl on the U.S. Air Force base in Misawa, Japan, where his wife, Air Force Maj. Eloise Gomez, was stationed.

His attorneys, Molly Sullivan and Blake Byrd, say Gomez did what he had to do to protect his wife, daughter and son.

The jury deliberated for two-and-a-half hours. U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr. will hold sentencing at a later date.

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