Families of Boeing crash victims urge judge to reject deal sparing company from prosecution

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Carrying photos of their loved ones into court Wednesday, family members of victims killed in Boeing 737 Max crashes urged a judge to reject a deal that would spare the company from criminal prosecution.

Some of the relatives of the 346 victims — killed in crashes off the coast of Indonesia and in Ethiopia less than five months apart in 2018 and 2019 — saw the hearing as their final chance to demand a public trial.

That's because U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor is weighing whether to approve the federal government’s motion to dismiss its criminal case against Boeing. The judge said Wednesday after hearing from the relatives and attorneys for both the Justice Department and Boeing that he would issue a decision at a later date.

In exchange, the company said it would pay or invest another $1.1 billion in fines, compensation for the crash victims’ families, and internal safety and quality measures.

“What part of this screams justice?” said David Moore, whose 24-year-old sister, Danielle, was among the 157 passengers and crew members killed in the Ethiopia crash. Moore traveled from Toronto with his parents to attend the hearing in Fort Worth.

Boeing is charged with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government after allegedly misleading Federal Aviation Administration regulators about a flight-control system tied to the crashes.

Wednesday's hearing came more than four years after the Justice Department announced it had charged Boeing and reached a $2.5 billion settlement with the aircraft maker. That deal would have protected Boeing from criminal prosecution if it strengthened its ethics and legal compliance programs, but prosecutors revived the charge last year after deciding the company had violated certain terms of the agreement.

Boeing decided to plead guilty as part of a different agreement, but O’Connor rejected that deal in December.

Prosecutors spent months renegotiating with Boeing, and in late May, the two sides struck the latest deal that takes both the criminal charge and Boeing’s guilty plea off the table.

The Justice Department said it offered those terms in light of “significant changes” Boeing has made to its quality control and anti-fraud programs since last summer. It said the agreement also served the public interest more effectively than taking the long-running case to trial and risking a jury verdict that might spare the company further punishment.

More than a dozen relatives spoke Wednesday, some of whom traveled to Texas from as far as Europe and Africa. They are among nearly 100 families who oppose the agreement and want the judge to appoint a special prosecutor to take over the case since the Justice Department said it would not move forward with the charge even if O’Connor refuses to dismiss it, according to court documents.

Catherine Berthet, who traveled from France, asked the judge to send the case to trial.

“Do not allow Boeing to buy its freedom," she said. Her daughter, Camille Geoffroy, also died when a 737 Max crashed shortly after takeoff from Ethiopia’s Addis Ababa Bole International Airport.

Attorneys for both the Justice Department and Boeing on Wednesday urged the judge to accept the agreement.

Justice Department lawyers say the families of 110 crash victims either support resolving the case before it reaches trial or do not oppose the new deal. It has also asked the judge to leave open the possibility of refiling the conspiracy charge if the company does not hold up its end of the deal over the next two years.

While federal judges typically defer to the discretion of prosecutors in such situations, court approval is not automatic.

The yearslong case centers around a software system that Boeing developed for the 737 Max, which began flying in 2017.

In both of the deadly crashes, that software pitched the nose of the plane down repeatedly based on faulty readings from a single sensor, and pilots flying for Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines were unable to regain control. After the Ethiopia crash, the planes were grounded worldwide for 20 months.

Investigators found that Boeing did not inform key Federal Aviation Administration personnel about changes it had made to the software before regulators set pilot training requirements for the Max and certified the airliner for flight.

The initial 2021 settlement agreement was on the verge of expiring last year when a panel covering an unused emergency exit blew off a 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight over Oregon. No one was seriously injured, but it put Boeing’s safety record under renewed scrutiny.

Yamat reported from Las Vegas.

CORRECTS SPELLING OF LAST NAME TO GEOFFROY, NOT GEOFFREY - Family of the victims from the Boeing 737 MAX crashes Catherine Berthet, left, holds a photo of her deceased daughter Camille Geoffroy, as she is comforted by Susan Riffel, who lost sons Melvin and Bennett, before a hearing at federal court in Fort Worth, Texas, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Family of the victims from the Boeing 737 MAX crashes Catherine Berthet, left, holds a photo of her deceased daughter Camille Geoffrey, as she is comforted by Susan Riffel, who lost sons Melvin and Bennett, before a hearing at federal court in Fort Worth, Texas, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Clariss Moore of Toronto, holds a photo of her deceased daughter Danielle as she talks with Susan Riffel, who also also lost sons Melvin and Bennett is Boeing crash, before a hearing at federal court in Fort Worth, Texas, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

A family member wears a photo of a Boeing crash victim Danielle Moore before a hearing at federal court in Fort Worth, Texas, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

FILE - Workers recover debris at the scene of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing Max plane crash on March 11, 2019, outside of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene, File)'

FILE - A Boeing 737 Max jet prepares to land at Boeing Field following a test flight in Seattle, Sept. 30, 2020. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)

FILE - Nadia Milleron, parent of Samya Rose Stumo, one of the victims of the Boeing 737 Max crash in Ethiopia, holds her photograph as she speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill, June 18, 2024, in Washington. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

FILE - Workers collect debris on March 12, 2019 at the scene where an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 157 on board, near Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, south of Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene, File)

FILE - Catherine Berthet, whose daughter Camille Geoffrey died in the March, 2019, crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max, speaks outside federal court in Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Koenig,File)

FILE - The Boeing logo is displayed at the company's factory, Sept. 24, 2024, in Renton, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

CARY, N.C. (AP) — Clayton Kershaw isn't done pitching just yet, agreeing Thursday to join the U.S. team for this year's World Baseball Classic.

The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner wanted to pitch for the Americans in the 2023 tournament but was prevented because of insurance issues. He had a $20 million, one-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers at the time.

“I was too broken for the insurance to cover my arm and everything,” Kershaw said on MLB Network, “so now that it doesn't matter I get to go and be a part of this group.”

A left-hander who turns 38 two days after the March 17 championship game, Kershaw announced last September that he was retiring at the end of the season, his 18th in a stellar career for the Dodgers. He won his third World Series title and finished 223-96 with a 2.53 ERA and 3,052 strikeouts.

“I just want to be the insurance policy,” Kershaw said. “If anybody needs a breather or if they need me to pitch back-to-back-to-back or if they don’t need me to pitch at all, I’m just there to be there. I just want to be a part of this group.”

Later Thursday, new Chicago Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman announced he will join the U.S. team.

When Kershaw received a call from U.S. manager Mark DeRosa, he thought he was being invited as a coach.

“I didn't have a whole lot of interest in picking up a baseball again," Kershaw said. “I started throwing 10, 12 days ago and it doesn’t feel terrible, so I think I’ll be OK.”

Kershaw joins a U.S. pitching staff that includes right-handers David Bednar, Clay Holmes, Griffin Jax, Nolan McLean, Mason Miller, Joe Ryan, Paul Skenes and Logan Webb along with left-handers Tarik Skubal and Gabe Speier.

The American roster also includes catchers Cal Raleigh and Will Smith; infielders Ernie Clement, Gunnar Henderson, Brice Turang and Bobby Witt Jr.; outfielders Byron Buxton, Corbin Carroll, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Aaron Judge; and designated hitter Kyle Schwarber.

The U.S., which lost the 2023 championship game to Japan, opens March 6 against Brazil at Houston, part of a group that also includes Britain, Italy and Mexico.

Shohei Ohtani struck out then-Los Angeles Angels teammate Mike Trout to end Japan's 3-2 win in the 2023 championship. Kershaw doesn't anticipate facing Ohtani, his teammate for the Dodgers' World Series titles in 2024 and 2025.

“I think something will have gone terribly wrong if I have to pitch against team Japan in the finals or something. I think we got plenty of guys to get that guy out and not me,” Kershaw said. “But if that happens, I'll be nervous. I'll be nervous at this point.”

AP baseball: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

FILE - Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw celebrates the end of the top of the 12th inning against the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 3 of baseball's World Series, Monday, Oct. 27, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)