By Patricia R. Doxsey
Daily Freeman, Kingston, N.Y.
KINGSTON, N.Y. — Former state trooper Christopher Baldner is headed to state prison for his role in the Dec. 22, 2020 , death of 11-year-old Monica Goods, who died after the vehicle she was riding in crashed after being struck twice by Baldner during a high-speed chase on the state Thruway in the town of Ulster.
Ulster County Judge Bryan Rounds sentenced the 19-year veteran state trooper to 2 1/2 to 7 1/2 years in prison during an emotional daylong proceeding in Ulster County Court on Tuesday.
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Baldner, 48, faced a maximum of 5-to-15 years in state prison for his conviction on second-degree manslaughter for the Brooklyn girl’s death. However, Rounds said the maximum sentence was “too high.” Conversely, he said, sentencing Baldner to a local jail sentence “understated the gravity of the crime.”
Baldner showed no emotion as Rounds handed down the sentence. Monica Goods’ mother, Michelle Surrency, wept.
Goods was a passenger in a vehicle driven by her father, Tristin Goods, on Dec. 22, 2020, when Baldner stopped the vehicle for traveling 101 miles an hour on the state Thruway. An argument between the two men ensued and in audio captured on Baldner’s cell phone, Goods — who testified at trial that at the time of the stop he believed in the tenets of sovereign citizens — could be heard screaming and cursing at Baldner, refusing to produce his license because he was “traveling in my conveyance.”
When Goods refused to get out of the vehicle, Baldner pepper-sprayed the occupants and Goods, saying he feared for his life, sped off away from the stop with Baldner in hot pursuit. Within 30 seconds of that chase, Baldner rammed the Goods vehicle for the first time. Nine seconds later, he rammed them again, causing Goods to lose control and crash. Monica was killed when she was thrown from the vehicle and trapped beneath it.
By convicting Baldner of second-degree manslaughter, jurors found that he recklessly caused or contributed to the girl’s death.
Inside the courtroom on Tuesday, Monica was recalled as a vibrant, kind and joy-filled girl whose death has devastated her family.
“Monica was a shining light, a vibrant and joyful soul,” Surrency said through tears. She said her daughter loved to play basketball, dance and sing and was learning to cook. Her favorite colors, she said, were red and white.
“Every morning I wake up and for a moment expect to find Monica with us, then reality hits me. My baby’s not here anymore, a piece of my heart is missing, forever broken and my family is incomplete.”
“The pain of losing Monica is a burden I will carry every day,” she said, weeping.
In a statement read by Assistant state Attorney General Joelle Morabito-Cruz, Monica’s father, Tristin, blasted Baldner, calling him a monster who took his daughter’s future from her and her family.
“All I will (be) left with is the memory of that God-awful night: The night that man whose duty is to protect and serve became a monster. This monster not only took my child but he also caused an extensive amount of mental anguish for my family and myself.”
“His life will carry on. Maybe not the way he planned, but he will still breathe every single day,” he said.
While family members inside the courtroom spoke of the impact of the crash and Monica’s death, about 25 demonstrators gathered outside the courthouse awaiting word on Baldner’s sentencing.
At some point, the protesters were told by officers with the state Office of Court Administration that they had to move across the street because state law prohibits protests in front of a courthouse.
Using bullhorns and carrying signs, the group maintained a near-constant stream of chants, including “No Justice, No peace. No racist police” along with demands for “Justice for Monica,” and “Anthony Ricco, shame on you.” Ricco, a Black man, is one of Baldner’s defense attorneys.
Rounds blasted the tactics of the demonstrators, who during the first trial loudly disrupted the trial during the closing arguments of state Attorney General Jennifer Gashi, handed out leaflets to potential jurors in the second trial and called Rico and his paralegal, who is also Black, the N-word.
Rounds also said he received a batch of form letters that stated in part “we are watching and we will remember,” which Rounds said he appeared to be “improperly seeking to influence this judge’s decision.”
“They will not be considered in any way shape or form when deciding the sentence of a criminal defendant in this courtroom,” Rounds said.
He went on to angrily denounce the behavior of protesters, calling “abhorrent” their predetermination that Baldner was guilty before “a single solitary piece of evidence” was presented.
And he apologized to the defense team for the epithets spewed in their direction.
“It ain’t normal, it ain’t right and whatever preconceived notion you have about upstate, it ain’t us,” he said.
Baldner is the second state trooper in New York to be charged with homicide in connection with a fatal vehicle pursuit, and the first to be convicted.
His trial in March was the second time Baldner faced a jury on charges connected to Monica’s death. In November, a separate jury acquitted Baldner of murder and reckless endangerment charges, but deadlocked on the manslaughter charge, prompting the state Attorney General’s Office to try him again.
Diane Pineiro-Zucker contributed to this report from outside the courtroom.
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