KINGSTON- Attorney General Letita James is petitioning an appellate panel to reinstate murder charges against Trooper Christopher Baldner following the death of Monica Goods in December 202o. In February, Ulster County Court Judge Bryan Rounds upheld the manslaughter and reckless endangerment charges but dropped the murder charge against Baldner because he didn’t intend to kill Goods.
It is alleged that on December 22, 2020, at about 11:40 p.m., Tristan Goods was driving in the northbound lane of the Thruway with his wife and two daughters, ages 11 and 12, on the way to visit family for Christmas.
Trooper Baldner was on patrol in his marked State Police car and stopped the Goods family car for speeding.
During the stop, the trooper and Goods began fighting. Baldner deployed pepper spray into the inside of the car and Goods sped away.
During the pursuit, Baldner twice rammed his police car into the rear of the Goods’ minivan. When the trooper struck their car the second time, the minivan rolled several times and came to rest upside down. The impact ejected Monica Goods from the car and she died.
Earlier this week, the New York Daily News reported on a confidential motion filed by James’ office requesting the court reinstate the murder charge. The motion included a forensic reconstruction of the crash that contradicts Baldner’s statements about what happened that day.
According to the confidential motion filed in the court, which was obtained by the New York Daily News, Baldner rammed the minivan twice at over 100 miles per hour. It also says that the trooper’s claim that Goods rammed his police car is false.
The case for manslaughter and reckless endangerment is scheduled to be heard in Ulster County Court in front of Judge Rounds on January 29th. There is no indication when the appellate panel will decide whether or not to overturn Rounds’ decision and reinstate the murder charge.
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