![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/former-new-york-state-trooper-114375008.jpg\")
Ex-New York state trooper Christopher Baldner, 52, accused of ramming his car into an SUV during a high-speed chase that led to the death of an 11-year-old passenger on the New York State Thruway, was acquitted of murder. AP<\/p>\nA 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 an 11-year-old passenger.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Baldner\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Ex-New York state trooper Christopher Baldner, 52, accused of ramming his car into an SUV during a high-speed chase that led to the death of an 11-year-old passenger on the New York State Thruway, was acquitted of murder. AP<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Eleven-year-old Monica Goods was killed in the crash.<\/p>\n
Messages seeking comment on the verdict were left with Baldner\u2019s lawyer. The New York attorney general\u2019s office, which prosecuted the case, didn\u2019t immediately comment.<\/p>\n
During the trial, Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Gashi told the jury that Baldner\u2019s actions were a \u201cfatal abuse of power.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Christopher](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2020-pulled-dodge-journey-driven-115980957.jpg\")
Balder was found not guilty on 7 of 8 counts, as the last charge of manslaughter has yet to be determined. Ulster County Sheriff’s Office<\/p>\n
A defense attorney told the jury the prosecution was trying to \u201cdemonize\u201d Baldner, who was dealing with a belligerent and uncooperative driver who sped away from the traffic stop.<\/p>\n
The defense claimed the fatal crash occurred when Tristin Goods overcorrected after veering into the path of and colliding slightly with the trooper\u2019s car,\u00a0according to the Daily Freeman<\/a>.<\/p>\n Baldner had radioed dispatch that night that the SUV had rammed his vehicle, according to court papers.<\/p>\n Tristin Goods testified that he pulled away from the traffic stop because he was \u201cscared for my life\u201d after he was pepper-sprayed, according to\u00a0the Daily Gazette<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tristin Goods acknowledged during testimony that at the time of the crash, he believed in the ideas of sovereign citizens, whose followers don\u2019t believe they have to follow laws not enshrined in the Constitution. He said those beliefs, and what he called Baldner\u2019s aggressive behavior during the traffic stop, led him to refuse to give the trooper his license and registration, according to\u00a0the Daily Freeman.<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Baldner has been free on $100,000 bail. He retired in 2022 after almost 20 years with the state police.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A former New York state trooper accused of ramming his car into an SUV that crashed during a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47974,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[254,57,238,9,11,10,49,51,50,9960,58],"class_list":{"0":"post-47973","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-car-crashes","9":"tag-metro","10":"tag-murders","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-headlines","13":"tag-new-york-news","14":"tag-new-york-state","15":"tag-new-york-state-headlines","16":"tag-new-york-state-news","17":"tag-state-troopers","18":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}