In Fort Worth, families of 737 Max crash victims scold Justice Department over Boeing fraud case

As sunlight filtered through the window shutters on the second floor of the US District Court building in Fort Worth Thursday morning, it was about the riots that erupted as the planes collided with the Southeast Asian sea and the Ethiopian field.

Thirteen people who are relatives of the victims of the Boeing 737 Max crash in October 2018 and March 2019 spoke to Judge Reid O’Connor about their memories and plans that were disrupted by the crashes.

They talked about the various purposes of the victims’ journey and their broader goals in life. All 189 passengers and crew on board the inaugural Lion Air 610 flight died. On the second flight, Ethiopian Airlines 302, all 157 passengers and crew on board died.

Several representatives of the victims described the dream as being disturbed by thoughts of themselves racing to their deaths in a plane falling from the sky.

After recounting the biography and grief, many of the relatives turned to their assessment of the deferred prosecution agreement between federal prosecutors and the Boeing Company. The relatives said the agreement, which would see Boeing pay about $2.5 billion in criminal fines, compensation payments to Boeing 737 MAX customers and a crash relief fund, was drafted without their advice. This prevents the company from being held accountable, which they claim was motivated by greed.

Paul Kiernan told O’Connor that he had lost his soul mate.

“Our future together will never be,” Kiernan said of his partner Joanna Toole.

Toole and the other victims became human casualties in what he said was Boeing’s calculation that passenger safety was below its own interests.

“The Deferred Prosecution Agreement is not justice because it was never meant for justice,” said Ireland’s Kiernan.

“They knew,” Kiernan said of Boeing, “and they didn’t do anything.”

An agreement was reached in January 2001 when the United States Department of Justice charged Boeing with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. Such agreements often require prosecutors to move to dismiss charges when the terms of the agreement are met. The case was filed in the Northern District of Texas because the fraud at least partially took place in the county.

The story goes on

Boeing has admitted that two technician pilots of its 737 MAX deceived the FAA’s aircraft evaluation team about a critical part of the aircraft, known as MCAS, that affected the Boeing 737 MAX’s flight control system. Due to a hoax, a key document released by the FAA was missing information about this part, and in turn, aircraft operating manuals and pilot training materials for U.S.-based airlines were missing information about it, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Dallas said. .

In November 2016, two flight technical pilots of a Boeing 737 MAX discovered information about an important change in the control system. Instead of sharing information about this change with the FAA, Boeing withheld this information and deceived the FAA about this detail.

Victims’ representatives on Thursday repeatedly criticized the deferred prosecution agreement at a preliminary hearing O’Connor scheduled last week.

Zippora Kuria, a Londoner whose father, Joseph Kuria, died in the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash, said in front of the courthouse that it was unnerving to hear Boeing and the Justice Department “sing the same script” as they argued over the terms of the release.

Paul Cassel, an attorney for the victims’ relatives, sought three such conditions. The standard requirement that the defendant does not commit new crimes at the federal, state or local level; a monitor to assess compliance with the Boeing agreement; and making public the substance of Boeing’s efforts to comply with the agreements.

Lorinda Laria, chief deputy chief of the U.S. Justice Department’s Criminal Fraud Division, argued that the second and third conditions were unprecedented, unnecessary, and inappropriate.

Indeed, in drafting the agreement, Fraud Attorney’s Office determined that an independent compliance monitor was not needed.

Benjamin Hatch, a lawyer for Boeing, said compliance with the agreement is the subject of regular discussions with prosecutors. The company pleaded not guilty.

O’Connor ordered a clause barring the company from committing a new crime and said he would later issue an order on different terms.

The families disputed elements of the agreement and demanded an order from O’Connor to revoke his immunity clause. Victims’ representatives contend that the agreement violates the Crime Victims’ Rights Act because prosecutors did not consult with the victims’ relatives prior to concluding it.

O’Connor interrupted Catherine Bertet, the second victim representative who spoke at the prosecution hearing, to ask what was left of her lengthy statement about her daughter Camille Geoffroy.

“I’ll give you one more minute, so wrap it up,” O’Connor said.

When Bertet continued beyond the limit, O’Connor interrupted her again, and she briefly insisted on continuing.

“Please, ma’am, step on your back,” the judge ordered.

Paul Njoroge’s three children, wife and mother-in-law died in the Ethiopian Airlines crash.

“The question that always haunts me is why did the Justice Department try to protect Boeing?” – said the Canadian in an interview with reporters at the courthouse.

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