Boeing to be arraigned on criminal charges

A federal judge has ordered Boeing Co. to be arraigned on a felony charge stemming from crashes of two 737 Max jets, a ruling that threatens to unravel an agreement Boeing negotiated to avoid prosecution.

The ruling by a judge in Texas came after relatives of some of the victims said the government violated their rights by reaching a settlement with Boeing without first notifying the families.

U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor ordered Boeing to send a representative to his courtroom in Fort Worth Jan. 26 for arraignment.

A Boeing spokesman said the company had no comment. The Justice Department, which did not oppose a public arraignment but has fought against re-opening the settlement, also declined to comment.

The judge's ruling is a narrow one that does not guarantee Boeing will face prosecution. That, however, remains the goal of lawyers for relatives of some of the 346 people killed in the crashes.

One of those lawyers, Paul Cassell, said the Justice Department could stand by the settlement even after the arraignment and a hearing at which passengers' survivors are expected to speak.

“But we believe this was such a rotten deal that ... (the Justice Department) can and should, after hearing from the victims, re-do the deal," Cassell said. “They should be prosecuted.”

The judge has not ruled yet on a separate motion by lawyers for the families to strip Boeing's immunity from prosecution.

The families accuse the government of cutting a secret deal with Boeing without telling them about the negotiations.

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[loganjohnson]

Good i hope they get run thru the wringer .

[DogeLeague]

I love accountability. Boeing is liable everyone.

[briansaysdie]

This will be interesting. Will Boeing try to throw its weight around?

There are just too many problems with this, whether it was boeing pushing this new design, the airlines that didn’t want to recertify pilots or the faa who turned their back to all of it and deemed the plane airworthy.

[GH-oijf]

This is a surprise. I thought the criminal investigation came to nothing.

[neonspark]

This is the only way CEOs which dodge accountability will learn: lock them up.