Beyond the truism that Mr. Forkner is guilty of no criminal act unless and until his guilt - both his actions and his mental state - are proven with admissible evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, I tend to believe he is not crimimally responsible (i.e., he has not committed a crime). Three items in support:
First, he may be guilty of monumentally ill-advised, even stupid, statements about his work, and certainly he did not stand in front of the (metaphoric) speeding locomotive of 737 MAX design, development and certification, holding up a "STOP" signal. Boeing's criminal case plea-bargain reeks of insider favoritism (though no one asked me). To prosecute Mr. Forkner as if a "lesser included" of the sordid, corrupt corporate malfeasnace is indeed a process of snagging a scapegoat. He acted badly, but that is not a crime, and not even in light of his specific role in the Boeing MAX debacle (itself a yet additional act of the multi-part drama, The Decline of the Once-Great).
Second, look again at fn.1 of the defense filing. The defense has argued that what Forkner did improperly relative to any and all contacts, communications and other interactions with FAA, singly and collectively, was not material to any decision (or failure to decide or act) by FAA. It's a significance argument. His mishandling of communications and information really did not make any difference, or not a material one.
Third, though closely related to the first point, Boeing is getting away with all this. Who in the legal profession or the aviation safety ecosystem - if such a thing exists any longer - is agitating for clawing back severance and other financial consideration received by Boeing's former CEO and General Counsel? Not that they should be prosecuted (though minds can differ, reasonably or not, on that point), but to walk away heavy with major warbucks??
Last edited by Pilot DAR; 18th Feb 2022 at 16:39.
Reason: Typo