Good person spoke — had trouble with speech (9)
I believe the answer is:
stuttered
'had trouble with speech' is the definition.
(stutter is a type of speech impediment)
'good person spoke' is the wordplay.
'good person' becomes 'st' (saint).
'spoke' becomes 'uttered' ('utter' can be a synonym of 'speak').
'st'+'uttered'='STUTTERED'
(Other definitions for stuttered that I've seen before include "Spoke with repetition of first consonants" , "Spoke haltingly" .)