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A state appeals panel reinstated a manslaughter charge against a state trooper who rammed a civilian motorist’s car twice, killing 11-year-old Monica Goods of Brooklyn, during a high-speed chase in December 2020 , according to the decision published on Thursday.
Four of the five judges on the appellate panel for the Third Judicial Department agreed that Judge Bryan Rounds erred in his February 2023 decision to dismiss the second-degree murder charge of depraved indifference against to Trooper Christopher Baldner in the death of Monica.
The appeals judges also overturned Rounds’ decision to reduce the first-degree reckless endangerment charges against Baldner to the second degree.
Monica was on a family vacation trip up north on December 22, 2020 when Baldner pulled over her father Tristan Goods for speeding on I-87 near Kingston.
The two men argued and then Baldner got angry and pepper sprayed the interior of the car. Claiming he was in fear of his life, Goods drove away and Baldner gave chase, twice ramming the back of Goods’ SUV. at a speed of more than 100 kilometers per hour.
The SUV flipped over a guardrail and Monica was ejected, killing her. His body was found under the vehicle.
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Key to the decision was a previous incident in 2019 in which Baldner hit motorist Jonathan Muthu in another high-speed chase on I-87 that ended in a crash but no fatalities.
“When the evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to the People – which is the finding we must credit in this position – it is that the defendant decided to end both pursuits with dangerous, unsanctioned, high-speed collisions while was possessed of “malice.” “Malice or inhumanity” directed at two provocative pilots,” the judges wrote.
“We are now awaiting trial and full justice for this horrific wrongful death that should never have happened,” said attorney Sanford Rubenstein who, along with Corey D’Alamata, is representing Monica’s mother, Michelle Surrency, in a lawsuit civil against Baldner and the state. .
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