New York AG Letitia James Challenges Supreme Court Judges to Reinstate Murder Charges Against Officer Who ‘Intentionally’ Rammed SUV Into Vehicle, Killing 11-Year-Old Black Girl

The New York Supreme Court of Appeals reinstated murder charges against a retired state trooper in the death of an 11-year-old Black girl four years ago after he allegedly crashed his police vehicle into her family’s SUV “like the Dukes of Hazard,” justices noted in the ruling. Christopher G. Baldner faces a charge of second-degree murder in the death of Monica Goods, of Brooklyn, and six counts of first-degree reckless endangerment, following his initial indictment in October 2021. Murder charges reinstated against retired trooper Christopher Baldner in death of Monica Goods (Credit: Ulster County Sheriff’s Office/GoFundMe). Earlier this year, however, Ulster County Court Judge Bryan Rounds concluded that the evidence did not convincingly show Baldner acted with “depraved indifference to human life” in the deadly rollover crash involving the family’s Dodge Journey in December 2020. As a result, Rounds dismissed the murder charge, effectively leaving Baldner to face only lesser offenses. He also reduced the reckless endangerment charges, scaling them back to second-degree violations and cutting the total number in half. New York Attorney General Letitia James later challenged the outcome, appealing the case to the Appellate Division, Third Judicial Department of the State Supreme Court, which agreed to reinstate...