Second trial of Christopher Baldner to begin on Tuesday

ULSTER COUNTY―Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday morning in the second trial of Christopher Baldner, the former state trooper from Durham charged in the death of an 11-year-old girl during a high-speed pursuit.

Baldner, 52, was found not guilty in November of second-degree murder and six counts of reckless endangerment. But the Ulster County Court jury remained deadlocked on the charge of second-degree manslaughter.

After nearly 24 hours of deliberation over the course of three days, the jury reported back to Judge Bryan Rounds that they were certain a verdict was not reachable, resulting in Rounds declaring a mistrial on the manslaughter charge.

Now, Baldner will be retried on the single count of second-degree manslaughter.

The case stems from a December 2020 traffic stop on the New York State Thruway in Ulster County when Baldner is alleged to have used what is known as a PIT maneuver to stop a fleeing Dodge Journey. The impact resulted in a crash that ejected backseat passenger Monica Goods, 11, from the SUV, causing fatal injuries.

Prosecuted by the New York State Attorney General’s Office, the case has been making its way through the legal system, rising as high as the New York State Court of Appeals. Baldner’s defense team is led by Albany attorney Stephen Coffey of O'Connell & Aronowitz.

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 Rounds 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, justices reinstated the second-degree murder charge.

In response, one of Baldner’s attorneys, John Ingrassia of Newburgh, filed a brief with the New York State Court of Appeals, known as the court of last resort in most cases. The high court let the murder charge stand.

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.

Tristan Goods pulled over about a mile later with his wife and two daughters, one of whom was Monica Goods. According to court records, a profanity-laced argument ensued between Baldner and Tristan Goods declined to produce his driver's license.

Baldner ultimately administered pepper spray into the SUV and Tristan Goods drove off.

Baldner returned to his patrol vehicle and radioed dispatch that the SUV had fled 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 records state.

According to the Attorney General’s Office, Balder twice 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. The second impact caused the Goods’ SUV to crash.

Additional troopers responded along with firefighters and EMS. Tristian Goods, who has never been charged, 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.

The six reckless endangerment charges against Baldner stemmed 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 that 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.

After being indicted for the death of Monica Goods, Baldner resigned from the State Police after serving approximately 20 years. He is currently free on bail.

A second-degree manslaughter conviction carries a maximum sentence of five to 15 years in prison.