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People suing Gwyneth Paltrow over the 2016 skiing collision in one of the most upscale resorts in North America took the stand there, saying it was rammed into from behind and sent “really flying.”
The court in Utah depends on who hit it: Paltrow testified the day before Terry Sanderson, a 76-year-old retired optometrist, veered into the back. He said the opposite, and the collision broke four ribs and caused post-concussion symptoms that changed his personality and strained family relationships.
But beyond the question of skiing ethics, Paltrow’s lawyer says the lawsuit is an attempt by someone “desperate” to exploit the influencer’s wealth and celebrity.
Sanderson is suing Paltrow for more than $300,000 US and Paltrow has countersued for $1 US and attorney’s fees. The amount of money at stake for both sides pales in comparison to the typical legal costs of multi-year lawsuits, personal security details and arduous trials.
On Monday, Sanderson recalled a woman screaming her skis at her and hitting her between the shoulders with her fists and a pole as she tried to protect her head.
“All I saw was a lot of snow. And I didn’t see the sky, but I was flying,” said Sanderson, calling it a “serious smack.”
Sanderson said he remembers a man in a ski suit at Deer Valley Resort came up afterwards and instead of offering help, anger was blamed for the collision.
The hour-long testimony brought Sanderson to tears at times, especially when he appeared unable to focus or remember things — in a way that was consistent with the legal team’s claim that the accident damaged his brain. He also said that his relationship with loved ones, including his daughter, was strained.
“There was something fundamentally wrong with him and what I brought to the table with him” since the accident, Sanderson said.
Dueling narratives
Jurors in Park City, Utah, have been given the victim’s narrative. Paltrow testified Friday that she dismounted from Sanderson, who she said hit the square in the back, then grunted and grunted as the collision sent both men tumbling down the hill.
After four and a half days of calling witnesses, Sanderson’s lawyers will now hand over the courtroom to Paltrow’s defense team to make their case. Paltrow’s attorneys have been asked to call the two teenagers – Moses and Apple – and the ski instructor who were present on the day of the crash.
He said he also plans to exclude dueling medical experts, which is expected to undercut testimony from neurologists, radiologists and psychologists hired by Sanderson’s team.
Craig Ramon, the man who claimed to be the sole witness to the collision, testified last week that he saw Paltrow hit Sanderson.
The email exchange was scrutinized
Also last week, an email exchange between Sanderson and his daughter with the subject line, “I’m famous… What’s the cost?” jurors and viewers intrigued after the online trial.
Attorneys have questioned a message from one of Sanderson’s daughters that said the collision could be recorded on a GoPro helmet camera.
The daughter, Shae Herath, testified Friday about an email in which she wrote “I also can’t believe this is all on GoPro” and sent a link to a website. He and his father testified that the messages contained no footage.
Herath said he sent the message after talking to his father and speculated that, on the crowded hills of a resort like Deer Valley, a man with a helmet camera must have heard the screams and turned his head to capture the pair coming down the hill.
On Monday, Judge Kent Holmberg said online sleuths had found the link and its contents would be entered into evidence. The link does not contain GoPro footage. However, it was for a chat between the members of Sanderson’s ski group, in which Ramon – the man admitted as the only witness to the accident – said on the day of the accident that Paltrow crashed into Sanderson.
“Terry knocked out cold. Bad hit in the head!” wrote Ramon. “I saw a hit. Terry didn’t know his name.”
The exchange made it clear that Ramon thought Paltrow had hit on Sanderson years before the lawsuit was filed. It also revealed Sanderson and the people he was skiing with knew the woman in the accident was Paltrow – the actor turned lifestyle influencer – that day. Paltrow’s attorney used Sanderson’s participation in the post-accident exchange to question her injuries and disorientation.
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