No one wants to go to trial. It makes no one happy, except lawyers.
Nor does this payment somehow remove the Justice Dept ability to sue. If they believe $2.3M is insufficient, they can still sue.
Some people live on drama and suffering, and now there's less of it.
A crime can always be tried, regardless of monetary damages.
Only in the USA with your literally corrupt judges that would be a problem.
The jury decides guilt or innocence, and then the judge issues the sentence.
No need for step 1.
(Unless it should be more, and then that DoJ will sue for the full amount.)
Are you suggesting we ought to let overpaid lawyers battle it out, then get fined $2.3M?
Surely it's not paying overpriced layers to argue back and forth in a courtroom for years?
That's just sometimes prerequisite to get to the actual justice.
The prosecution tried to pull a fast one to get a jury trial by bundling a charge with monetary damages. Google's lawyers simply paid the claimed damages (tripled by law) and interest to remove the forced jury trial component in lieu of a bench trial.
Just to be clear, they are still going to trial for the antitrust charges.