Trial of father and son in Japan fight delayed

The anticipated Dec. 10 jury trial in Little Rock of a father and son accused of assaulting airmen at a U.S. air base in Misawa, Japan, was postponed Wednesday until April 22.

U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr. granted a request from an attorney for Rodrigo Pineda Gomez, formerly of Jacksonville, for more time to prepare. Gomez and his son, Miguel, are facing a joint trial stemming from a fight on New Year’s Eve 2016 at a restaurant on the base. They are the husband and son of a woman who is an Air Force major and was previously stationed in Little Rock. Because Little Rock Air Force Base in Jacksonville was their last stateside address, they were charged in the Eastern District of Arkansas in connection with what has been described as a brutal attack in Japan.

Rodgrio Gomez, an advanced master and instructor of jujitsu, faces multiple charges related to the assault of three U.S. Air Force airmen, while his son faces two counts related to his alleged role in the assault. The elder Gomez’s most serious charge is attempted voluntary manslaughter, which alleges that he punched a 19-year-old airman and then got behind him and tried to snap the airman’s neck while Miguel Gomez, then 20, put the airman into an immobilizing leg lock.