Patricia R. Doxsey is reporting for the Daily Freeman state Supreme Court Justice Denise Hartman, Fri., Nov. 19, allowed state trooper Christopher Baldner to post bail, overturning a November 4 decision by Ulster County Judge Bryan Rounds ordering the Greene County resident be held without bail. The state Attorney General’s Office argued against the trooper’s release both before Rounds and again before Hartman, claiming that holding him without bail was necessary to ensure his continued appearance in court. Hartman rejected the argument. Baldner, 43, was indicted in late October for second-degree murder, manslaughter and reckless endangerment in connection with the December 22, 2020, crash that killed Monica Goods, a Brooklyn girl who was a passenger in an SUV driven by her father, Tristan Goods, on the Thruway in the town of Ulster when Baldner stopped the vehicle for speeding. The indictment, handed up by an Ulster County grand jury, alleges Baldner “used his police vehicle to ram a car occupied by four members of the Goods family — causing it to flip over, resulting in the death of 11-year-old Monica...” Authorities have said the chase that preceded the crash reached speeds of 130 mph. Baldner has been suspended from the state police without pay. The judge ordered that he be placed on electronic monitoring and ruled he cannot leave home, except for necessary medical appointments or to meet with his attorney or probation officer. Baldner must also surrender his passport. Authorities say Baldner similarly rammed his police vehicle into cars on the Thruway in Ulster County on two previous occasions, in 2017 and 2019. He is next scheduled to appear in court on February 18, 2022. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.