State to appeal Ulster judge's decision to drop murder charge in death of Monica Goods
TOWN OF ULSTER − The Attorney General's Office plans to appeal an Ulster County judge's recent decision to dismiss a murder charge against the New York State Trooper accused of killing 11-year-old Monica Goods during a high-speed chase on the New York Thruway in 2020, according to a representative from the Attorney General's Office.
Last week, Ulster County Judge Bryan Rounds determined that evidence was unable to prove Trooper Christopher Baldner acted with "depraved indifference to human life" when he crashed his service car into the Dodge Journey driven by the Brooklyn girl's father on Dec. 22, 2020, according to the 23-page ruling.
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Baldner currently faces a second-degree manslaughter charge and three counts of second-degree reckless endangerment for the Brooklyn girl's parents and sister who were also in the car the night of the crash, according to the ruling. He also faces reckless endangerment charges for a separate September 2019 incident during which he crashed into another vehicle on the Thruway, according to the ruling, and six reduced counts of first-degree reckless endangerment related to both incidents because the state failed to prove Baldner acted with "depraved indifference to human life."
A successful appeal would reinstate a second-degree murder charge that Baldner was originally charged with.
The high-speed chase began following a routine traffic stop that turned into a deadly chase. The pursuit concluded when Baldner collided with the Goods' car twice, and Monica was ejected from the vehicle while it rolled over several times.
Erin Nolan is an investigative reporter for the Times Herald-Record and USA Today Network. Reach her at enolan@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: State to appeal dismissal of murder charge for trooper Baldner
