Ex-New York state trooper acquitted of murder in highway chase that killed 11-year-old girl

KINGSTON, N.Y. (AP) — A former New York state trooper accused of ramming his car into an SUV that crashed during a high-speed chase was acquitted of murder in the death of a 11-year-old passenger.

A jury on Thursday found Christopher Baldner, 52, not guilty on seven of eight counts and returned to court Friday to continue deliberating the last remaining charge, manslaughter.

Baldner’s case involves his actions on the night of Dec. 22, 2020, when he pulled over a Dodge Journey driven by Tristin Goods for speeding on the New York State Thruway.

The driver, his wife and two daughters were heading north from New York City for a holiday with family when Baldner stopped them near Kingston.

Baldner and Goods argued and the trooper pepper-sprayed the inside of the vehicle. Goods drove off, leading Baldner on a high-speed chase. The trooper rammed the SUV twice, causing it to lose control and flip over, prosecutors said.

Eleven-year-old Monica Goods was killed in the crash.

Messages seeking comment on the verdict were left with Baldner’s lawyer. The New York attorney general’s office, which prosecuted the case, didn’t immediately comment.

During the trial, Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Gashi told the jury that Baldner’s actions were a “fatal abuse of power.”

A defense attorney told the jury the prosecution was trying to “demonize” Baldner, who was dealing with a belligerent and uncooperative driver who sped away from the traffic stop.

The defense claimed the fatal crash occurred when Tristin Goods overcorrected after veering into the path of and colliding slightly with the trooper’s car, according to the Daily Freeman.

Baldner had radioed dispatch that night that the SUV had rammed his vehicle, according to court papers.

Tristin Goods testified that he pulled away from the traffic stop because he was “scared for my life” after he was pepper-sprayed, according to the Daily Gazette.

Tristin Goods acknowledged during testimony that at the time of the crash, he believed in the ideas of sovereign citizens, whose followers don’t believe they have to follow laws not enshrined in the Constitution. He said those beliefs, and what he called Baldner’s aggressive behavior during the traffic stop, led him to refuse to give the trooper his license and registration, according to the Daily Freeman.

Baldner also was acquitted of three reckless endangerment charges related to a separate 2019 case on the Thruway in which he is accused of ramming the back of a Dodge Caravan with three people aboard, causing the vehicle to crash into a guardrail. Defense attorney Anthony Ricco told the jury it was possible the SUV decelerated before impact.

Baldner has been free on $100,000 bail. He retired in 2022 after almost 20 years with the state police.