Ex-trooper who caused Monica Goods’ death in upstate NY car chase gets 2.5 to 7.5 years in prison ⁠24%

By Colin Mixson⁠63% Leonard Greene⁠72%

6/2/2026, 9:49:27 PM

BS Summary: This article contains 21 faulty reasoning types, including Negativity Bias, Appeal to Emotion, and Ambiguity (Equivocation), with Framing Effect as the most egregious example at 24.6% saturation with 98 hits. Analysis detected 799 faulty-reasoning hits from 398 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 36.8% and a BS Rank of ⁠24% (16,674 of 21,886 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 76.20% of the article peer group.

An ex-New York State trooper who caused the death of 11-year-old girl Monica Goods when he rammed his patrol vehicle into the Brooklyn girl’s family car during an upstate chase was sentenced to two and a half to seven and a half years in prison on a manslaughter charge. 
Monica was a passenger in her parents’ car in Dec. 2020 when Trooper Christopher Baldner, 48, pulled the vehicle over in Ulster County, and pepper-sprayed the girl’s father during the stop, officials said. 
After the driver sped off, Baldner gave chase, twice rear-ending the vehicle, which skidded into the center guard rail, flipped over and came to rest upside down. 
The impact ejected Monica from the car. 
She was pronounced dead a short time later. 
“It is some type of accountability,” Monica’s mother, Michelle Surrency, told the Daily News after the sentencing. 
“It could have gone a different way. 
It’s a deterrent to let people know that you can’t do crimes and think you’re above the law.” 
But Surrency said the prison sentence is little comfort. 
“For me, there will never be justice,” she said. 
“There’s only one real justice, and that’s Monica coming back. 
Nothing changes for us at all. 
We still visit Monica in the cemetery. 
We still have to honor and live for her. 
On my end, nothing changes. 
We still have the same pain and hurt.” 
During the trial, Baldner’s defense team had tried to blame the Brooklyn girl’s father, Tristin Goods, who was driving the car during the high-speed chase that ended near Kingston, saying he had acted recklessly. 
Baldner’s attorneys said the accident occurred after the SUV cut the trooper off as he pulled alongside during the pursuit. 
But Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Gashi told jurors that Baldner had “recklessly used his patrol car as a weapon” during the deadly chase. 
An Ulster County jury found Baldner guilty in March. 
The retired trooper, a 19-year-veteran, was taken into custody following the sentencing. 
Baldner was acquitted during his first trial on murder charges. 
But he was convicted at a second trial on the manslaughter charge. 
“Let this be a message to police officers all over the country, that if you do what this police officer did, you will go jail,” said the family’s lawyer, Sanford Rubinstein. 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 12.3%Colin Mixson: 2.8%newyorkdailynews: 3.2%Confirmation Bias12.3%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 1.1%newyorkdailynews: 0.8%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 10.6%Colin Mixson: 4.8%newyorkdailynews: 3.4%Availability Heuristic10.6%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 1.2%newyorkdailynews: 1.1%Representativeness Heuristic0.0%This article: 1.8%Colin Mixson: 0.5%newyorkdailynews: 1.0%Hindsight Bias1.8%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 0.3%newyorkdailynews: 1.3%Overconfidence Bias0.0%This article: 24.6%Colin Mixson: 8.3%newyorkdailynews: 6.1%Framing Effect24.6%This article: 2.5%Colin Mixson: 0.2%newyorkdailynews: 0.4%Loss Aversion2.5%This article: 6.5%Colin Mixson: 0.4%newyorkdailynews: 0.5%Status Quo Bias6.5%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 0.0%newyorkdailynews: 0.2%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 4.5%Colin Mixson: 0.9%newyorkdailynews: 2.8%Optimism Bias4.5%This article: 9.3%Colin Mixson: 1.1%newyorkdailynews: 1.2%Pessimism Bias9.3%This article: 23.9%Colin Mixson: 12.9%newyorkdailynews: 9.8%Negativity Bias23.9%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 1.4%newyorkdailynews: 1.5%Self-Serving Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 1.8%newyorkdailynews: 1.5%Fundamental Attribution Error0.0%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 0.3%newyorkdailynews: 0.3%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 1.1%newyorkdailynews: 1.3%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 8.5%Colin Mixson: 0.8%newyorkdailynews: 0.4%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias8.5%This article: 3.0%Colin Mixson: 3.4%newyorkdailynews: 3.9%Halo Effect3.0%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 0.6%newyorkdailynews: 0.5%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 0.0%newyorkdailynews: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 2.5%Colin Mixson: 1.2%newyorkdailynews: 1.4%Recency Bias2.5%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 0.3%newyorkdailynews: 0.4%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 0.0%newyorkdailynews: 0.0%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 0.6%newyorkdailynews: 1.2%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 0.0%newyorkdailynews: 0.2%Straw Man0.0%This article: 13.6%Colin Mixson: 4.2%newyorkdailynews: 3.2%Appeal to Authority13.6%This article: 14.8%Colin Mixson: 0.5%newyorkdailynews: 1.1%False Dilemma14.8%This article: 7.8%Colin Mixson: 0.3%newyorkdailynews: 0.4%Slippery Slope7.8%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 0.0%newyorkdailynews: 0.1%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 3.1%newyorkdailynews: 4.1%Hasty Generalization0.0%This article: 8.5%Colin Mixson: 0.5%newyorkdailynews: 0.3%Red Herring8.5%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 0.3%newyorkdailynews: 0.4%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 18.3%Colin Mixson: 10.3%newyorkdailynews: 7.4%Appeal to Emotion18.3%This article: 2.3%Colin Mixson: 0.4%newyorkdailynews: 0.6%Begging the Question2.3%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 2.1%newyorkdailynews: 3.4%Post Hoc (False Cause)0.0%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 0.0%newyorkdailynews: 0.1%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 0.4%newyorkdailynews: 0.5%Burden of Proof0.0%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 0.0%newyorkdailynews: 0.2%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 0.1%newyorkdailynews: 0.2%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 3.1%newyorkdailynews: 2.6%Anecdotal0.0%This article: 2.3%Colin Mixson: 0.1%newyorkdailynews: 0.1%No True Scotsman2.3%This article: 17.3%Colin Mixson: 1.8%newyorkdailynews: 1.6%Ambiguity (Equivocation)17.3%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 0.0%newyorkdailynews: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 0.1%newyorkdailynews: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 0.1%newyorkdailynews: 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 0.2%newyorkdailynews: 0.1%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 0.1%newyorkdailynews: 0.1%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 3.5%newyorkdailynews: 2.1%Unattributed Quote0.0%This article: 5.8%Colin Mixson: 1.3%newyorkdailynews: 1.1%Quote-first Misdirection5.8%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 4.8%newyorkdailynews: 6.7%Biased Writer Voice0.0%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 0.6%newyorkdailynews: 3.9%Indoctrination0.0%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 0.8%newyorkdailynews: 0.8%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 0.2%newyorkdailynews: 0.2%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Colin Mixson: 0.3%newyorkdailynews: 0.6%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…0.0%

398 words analyzed.

Speakers

3speakers38%attributed speech248writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 18 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 49 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 33 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 27 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 7 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 8 words • 0.0% coverageMichelle Surrency • 17 words • 0.0% coverageMichelle Surrency • 7 words • 0.0% coverageMichelle Surrency • 18 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 9 words • 0.0% coverageMichelle Surrency • 9 words • 0.0% coverageMichelle Surrency • 10 words • 0.0% coverageMichelle Surrency • 6 words • 0.0% coverageMichelle Surrency • 7 words • 0.0% coverageMichelle Surrency • 9 words • 0.0% coverageMichelle Surrency • 5 words • 0.0% coverageMichelle Surrency • 8 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 34 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 20 words • 0.0% coverageJennifer Gashi • 23 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 9 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 10 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 0.0% coverageSanford Rubinstein • 31 words • 0.0% coverage
Selected voice

Sanford Rubinstein

100%flagged-word coverage
31 attributed words21% of attributed speech100% writer coverage

No manipulation-pattern hits were found in this speaker's attributed words or the writer's voice.

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

Loading…
Loading…
Loading…
Loading…

Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.