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Murder charges have been reinstated against a New York state trooper involved in a car crash that killed an 11-year-old girl, ABC News reports.
Christopher G. Baldner was initially charged in October 2021 with one count of second-degree manslaughter and six counts of first-degree reckless endangerment in connection to the death of Monica Goods, 11.
However, in February 2023, Ulster County Court Justice Bryan E. Rounds dismissed the murder charge and reduced the reckless endangerment charges to second-degree violence.
New York Attorney General Letitia James led the charge in appealing the lower court's dismissal of the murder charge. The appeal was granted earlier this month in a 4-1 opinion.
"The grand jury heard that, in September 2019, the defendant 'came out of the woods like the Dukes of Hazard' in his State Police vehicle, sirens activated, when he observed a minivan speeding at 80 miles per hour. The evidence of the December 2020 incident follows a similar pattern. The grand jury heard from witnesses that, around 11:40 p.m., the defendant was 'see[ing] if he could get one last ticket' before meeting his partner when he stopped an SUV for speeding," the opinion read.
Monica's father was driving the SUV when the family was pulled over by Baldner. Following the traffic stop, the encounter between the family and Baldner "quickly escalated" as the officer "angrily and profanely" accused them of speeding at over 100 miles per hour, according to the victim's father.
Baldner allegedly pepper sprayed the father, after which he drove away from the scene. The girl's father said Baldner then "quickly followed" in a "hot pursuit."
"During the pursuit, Baldner twice rammed his police vehicle into the rear of the Goods' car. Upon the second strike, the Goods' car flipped over several times and came to rest upside down. The impact ejected Monica Goods from the car, and she died," James previously said.
The dissenting justice in the appellate court's decision to reinstate murder charges argued that Baldner was "doing his job in a reckless and undisciplined fashion" but didn't display an "utter disregard for human life."
The court's majority said Baldner acted "recklessly," executed "unauthorized maneuvers," and "intentionally rammed the SUV."
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