A former New York State trooper has been charged with murder and manslaughter, and until Wednesday's indictment of Christopher Baldner, no state trooper "in recent times" had ever been indicted for murder.
Probably, none needed to be, until now.
The state trooper “used his car as a deadly weapon” according to New York Attorney General Letitia James.
This wasn't the first time he'd used his police unit as a deadly weapon. The indictment also charges him with endangering the lives of three people by ramming his vehicle into their car in a separate incident in the Kingston area in September 2019.
PLUS Gov. Kathy Hochul cited that Trooper Baldner struck a car in the same area in January 2017.
What is also criminal is that neither of the previous battering ram events were ever going to blight his professional record until this event. SO, what I'm saying, is, that the state attorney general, and his supervisors and superiors, could have prevented this death by taking him to task for that 2019 ramming, OR the 2017 ramming.
Has ANY news outlet point out that this girl's death, and he families grief, would have been prevented if they'd done their jobs? Nope. I realized that myself. This trooper ought to have been set straight before killing Monica Goods.
James, in a press release, said the girl’s father was pulled over by Baldner for speeding, and after the driver asked to speak to the supervisor, the trooper “deployed pepper spray into the interior of the car,” leading the father to drive off because he feared for their safety, prompting Baldner to give chase.
Monica Goods’ father told the Daily News that Baldner pulled him over for speeding and the two argued. Goods told the Daily News that Baldner lost his temper and sprayed the interior of the SUV with pepper spray, striking him, the girls’ stepmother and the two girls.
Fearing for his life, Goods said, he drove off and Baldner pursued him, ramming him twice at high speed. The two crashes — documented in state police accident reports — caused the SUV to flip over a guardrail, ejecting Monica.
The attorney general charged Baldner with second-degree murder — which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison — second-degree manslaughter and reckless endangerment.
"Police officers are entrusted to protect and serve, but Trooper Baldner allegedly violated that trust when he used his car as a deadly weapon and killed a young girl," James said. "While nothing will bring Monica back, we must hold law enforcement to the highest standards, which is why my office is committed to seeking justice in this case."
So, regardless of the police brutality of the past couple of years, and all the deserved factual publicity fall out, like the murders by police being the motivating push to nation wide protests against police who behave as though they, their police academy instructors, their road supervisors, and their police chiefs have not been educated on due process, and power tripping cops are still losing their fucking minds because they are not, and have not been, focused on professional behavior.
Thanks Kim!
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/monica-goods-death-christopher-baldner-new-york-state-trooper-charged/
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/27/nyregion/monica-goods-christopher-baldner.html but the NY Times is behind a pay wall. It's probably worth the cost of a subscription, as the Times really has a ton of fine journalism
So, the job of "reporters" continues, to keep up the public shaming of police, police departments, sheriffs, and state troopers, their police unions (who are SUPPOSED to be relevant to the professional behavior of their union members) police chiefs, police captains, police commissioners, mayors and governors who collectively have failed to be professional, legal, and respectable.
Read about this earlier today and was pleased to learn the guy will be criminally prosecuted. He was fully aware of the fact there were innocent people in that car, including children. Apparently that knowledge was insufficient to keep his inflated sense of self importance in check when challenged by the driver.
ReplyDeleteHowever…let’s not overlook a not so minor point. Ramming a fleeing car is generally an acceptable technique for bringing a chase to an end. Cops are trained for it. It even has an acronym of its very own: PIT maneuver, a pursuit intervention technique. The cop’s defense will rely heavily on this. "He’s trained to do it, therefore the practice is approved and he’s just doing his job." Realistically, he could get his gig back with lost wages to boot.
There are several factors that converge to make police misconduct very easy to get away with.
1) Qualified immunity. Under the doctrine of qualified immunity, established by the US Supreme Court, public officials are generally protected from civil actions brought against them for their violation of an individuals civil rights. In theory an action can be brought, but the conditions imposed by the court constitute a very, very high bar to get over.
2) Training. An excellent article on this issue is from The Atlantic, “How Police Training Contributes to Avoidable Deaths.”
3) Police Unions.
4) Local policies that have their origins in local political hacks.
5) Federal Asset Forfeiture Laws, which encourage local police to lie and steal.
I don’t see any of this changing any time soon.
yes, when the state attorney general isn't out to make a point, and also, when the cop pepper sprayed everyone in the car. I believe that the pepper spray will show that he'd lost his damn mind, and was unprofessional, and not acting IAW procedure, as he didn't request his supervisor to roll up. He also escalated a stupid moment, and, has 2 priors that were overlooked. I'm still looking to see that brought up as negligence by the entire damn police force that should have prevented this girls death.
DeleteAlso, a PIT manuever may be generally acceptable, but, when the cop knew there were 3 passengers? For a speeding ticket?
etc. etc
THe cops take is very seriously if you interfere with their revenue collection from traffic tickets.
ReplyDeletehope he gets life.
ReplyDelete