By Andrea Macko/Porcupine Soup
DURHAM―Former State Trooper Christopher Baldner’s murder trial is set to begin this fall, four years to the day he was first arraigned in the death of a young girl during a high-speed pursuit.
Jury selection is scheduled for October 27 in Ulster County Court, according to the New York State Unified Court System.
Last month, New York State’s highest court has upheld the murder charge against the ex-trooper from Durham, ruling that evidence presented to a grand jury against Baldner “was legally sufficient to demonstrate that defendant acted with depraved indifference to human life.”
The charge stems from a December 2020 traffic stop on the New York State Thruway in Ulster County that turned tragic when Baldner is alleged to have used what is known as a PIT maneuver to stop a fleeing Dodge Journey. The impact ejected passenger Monica Goods, 11, from the SUV, causing fatal injuries.
The case, which is being prosecuted by the New York State Attorney General’s Office, has been making its way through the legal system.
In October of 2021, a grand jury indicted Baldner for second-degree murder, second-degree manslaughter, and six counts of first-degree reckless endangerment.
But Ulster County Court Judge Bryan Rounds―who is presiding over the case and trial―dismissed the top charge of the indictment in a decision that the Attorney’s General’s Office took to the Appellate Division, Third Department. There, in a 4-1 decision issued this past September, justices reinstated the second-degree murder charge.
In response, Baldner’s attorney, John Ingrassia of Newburgh, filed a brief in February with the New York State Court of Appeals, known as the court of last resort in most cases.
Ingrassia argued that Rounds’ dismissal should be reinstated “because the evidence was insufficient to support a finding that Trooper Baldner possessed the requisite heightened reckless and depraved indifference.”
According to Ingrassia, the Attorney General’s Office failed to conduct grand jury proceedings in a “fair and impartial manner.” Specifically, he argued that a vehicle data recorder and accident reconstruction expert testified beyond the scope of their knowledge by weighing in on Baldner’s state of mind at the time of the pursuit.
But the high court ultimately disagreed, ruling that Ingrassia’s arguments “are essentially challenges to the weight of the evidence, and thus not properly considered on appellate review of a challenge to the legal sufficiency of an indictment.”
It was around 11:39 p.m. on December 20, 2020 that Baldner, in a marked State Police patrol vehicle, was parked in a U-turn on the Thruway. According to court documents, a Dodge Journey driven by Tristan Goods drove by him in the northbound lanes at 101 mph and Baldner radioed dispatch that he was initiating a traffic stop and requesting backup.
Tristan Goods pulled over about a mile later with his wife and two daughters, one of whom was Monica Goods. According to grand jury transcripts, Tristan Goods immediately began yelling at Baldner while his family repeatedly told him to calm down. Tristan Goods also declined to provide Baldner with his driver's license, court documents state.
Baldner then administered pepper spray into the SUV and Tristan Goods drove off with the canister. Tristan Goods later said he left the scene because he was afraid for his life.
Baldner returned to his patrol vehicle and radioed dispatch that the SUV had taken off and he was in pursuit. The now former trooper reached speeds upwards of 130 mph and the SUV was traveling in excess of 100 mph, court documents state.
According to court documents, Baldner told his sergeant that he was attempting to pull up alongside the SUV when the two vehicles collided twice, the second impact causing the SUV to spin out and overturn. Grand jury transcripts reference by Ingrassia state that Baldner radioed dispatch two times within 25 seconds saying that the SUV “rammed me.”
Additional troopers responded along with firefighters and EMS. Tristian Goods sustained minor injuries, while his wife and one daughter were unharmed. Monica Goods, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was found deceased pinned under the SUV.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, Balder used a precision immobilization technique (PIT) maneuver that involves gradually moving the front end of a police vehicle into the rear quarter panel of a fleeing vehicle causing it to spin to a stop. State Police policy requires troopers to obtain authorization before attempting such a move and Baldner did not.
The Attorney General’s Office has argued that Baldner’s “second strike against the Goods’ SUV vividly demonstrates his lack of concern.”
“He knew that children were riding in the back seat,” the Attorney General’s Office has stated in court filings. “Yet, he smashed his car into the Goods’ car at 100 miles per hour, causing a completely predictable fatal wreck.”
The six reckless endangerment charges against Baldner stem from the crash involving the Goods family as well as a separate incident in September of 2019 where he allegedly used his police vehicle to ram a different passenger car. That other incident was previously investigated by the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted the driver and one of his passengers, but did not bring charges against Baldner. He was also not reprimanded or disciplined by the State Police.
Since being indicted for the death of Monica Goods, Baldner has resigned from the State Police after serving approximately 20 years. He is currently free on bail. Tristan Goods has never been charged.
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