The United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas has vacated a late June trial date in the matter of the United States of America v. The Boeing Company (case no: 4:21-CR-005-O) while the judge considers a Department of Justice (DOJ) motion to dismiss a criminal prosecution of Boeing in relation to the 2018 and 2019 B737 MAX crashes.
On June 1, Judge Reed O'Connor granted the DOJ's application to cancel the trial due to start on June 23 following the department filing a motion to dismiss on May 29. Reed has set a briefing schedule in which responses to the motion are due by June 18 and any replies in support of the motion are due by June 25.
The lawyers representing the families of the victims of the two crashes called the proposed deal "morally repugnant" and said it should not be approved.
ch-aviation has reported on the agreement between the DOJ and Boeing to dodge the trial. The department had charged Boeing with a single count of conspiracy to defraud the US, which the airline intended to defend. However, the parties nutted out an agreement last month whereby Boeing would pay over USD1.1 billion, including a USD487.2 million penalty and USD444.5 million to crash victims' families, and admit the charge in exchange for the DOJ to withdraw the charge.
"Boeing is committed to complying with its obligations under this resolution," the aircraft manufacturer told ch-aviation. "The resolution also provides for substantial additional compensation for the families of those lost" in the crashes.
The DOJ says the settlement "secures meaningful accountability, delivers substantial and immediate public benefits, and brings finality to a difficult and complex case whose outcome would otherwise be uncertain."
The trial could still go ahead, albeit no longer this month, if the judge does not approve the DOJ's motion.
