Gwyneth Paltrow’s lawyer complains after actress is photographed in court
The retired optometrist who has taken actor Gwyneth Paltrow to trial over a 2016 ski collision has claimed he can no longer enjoy wine tastings because of injuries sustained in the collision.
The Hollywood star and Goop CEO has been accused of crashing into Terry Sanderson, 76, on a ski slope at the Deer Valley resort in Park City, Utah in February 2016.
Mr Sanderson claims Paltrow slammed into him in a “full body hit” leaving him with “permanent traumatic brain injury, four broken ribs, pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, emotional distress and disfigurement”.
Meanwhile, Paltrow claims that it was Ms Sanderson who crashed into her.
Neuro-radiology expert Dr Windell Gibby testified on Wednesday that the collision caused him to “abruptly” suffer a sharp decline in quality of life – leaving him unable to enjoy his pasttimes.
“Terry had been a high-functioning, active person… Meeting groups, wine tasting, skiing, volunteering,” she said.
“After the accident, he deteriorated abruptly and many of the activities he loved to do, he stopped doing.”
Mr Sanderson is seeking $300,000 from Paltrow while she is seeking $1 in damages and for her legal fees to be covered.
Why is Gwyneth Paltrow being sued over a ski crash?
Gwyneth complains about being photographed at ski collision trial
Before the second day of proceedings began on Wednesday, attorneys for the Goop founder argued that her privacy was being disturbed by a camera inside the courtroom pointing directly at her face and paparazzi waiting for her in the parking lot.
“We have a new camera directed at my client right there,” attorney Steve Owens said. “This has been a [continuing] problem, for instance, reporters being in front of my client’s car going out yesterday, cameras in her face.”
He continued: “I’m mad, I don’t want reporters to make changes without informing [the judge].”
Gwyneth Paltrow ‘slammed’ into skier then ‘bolted’ without a word, US court told
Gwyneth Paltrow “slammed” into another skier and then “bolted” down the slope without saying a word, a US court has heard.
The Oscar-winning actress is alleged to have collided with Terry Sanderson, leaving him unresponsive at the Deer Valley Resort in Utah in 2016.
Mr Sanderson, a retired optometrist, is suing Paltrow over the incident, with proceedings taking place in Park City, Utah.
Terry Sanderson heard ‘hysterical screaming’ before collision
Mr Sanderson alleges that Ms Paltrow was coming down the beginner slope of Bandana Run on Flagstaff mountain in an “out-of-control” manner, according to Court TV.
He claims that she struck him so hard that he was knocked out. At a press conference in 2019, he said that moments before the collision, he “heard this just hysterical screaming like … King Kong in the jungle or something”.
Terry Sanderson during a press conference in 2019
He said at the time that he thought the speed at which Ms Paltrow was allegedly coming at him could explain the extent of his injuries. “A little bitty bullet can make a big hole,” he said, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
At that press conference announcing the lawsuit, Mr Sanderson said he noticed a number of large “slow down” signs as he headed down Bandana run, so he slowed down but still stayed with the flow of other skiers coming down the slope.
“It was just instantaneous,” he said in 2019. “I got hit in my back. … It felt like it had just drove me forward.”
He said he could remember not being able to control himself as he went down.
“And then that’s all I remember to that point — just out,” he said.
Gwyneth Paltrow faces trial showdown over ‘hysterical King Kong’ ski crash
A retired optometrist claims he was skiing with friends when he heard ‘hysterical screaming like … King Kong in the jungle or something’.
Gwyneth Paltrow’s claim skier crashed into her is not ‘plausible’, trial told
Terry Sanderson showed ‘typical hallmarks’ of a traumatic brain injury after 2016 collision, the court heard.
Expert explains Mr Sanderson’s injuries after collision
Mr Sanderson’s attorneys are trying to prove that it was Ms Paltrow who slammed into their client, arguing that the downhill skier always has the right-of-way.
Instead, Ms Paltrow argues that Mr Sanderson rammed into her.
Testifying for the defence, neuro-radiology expert Dr Gibby said the scenario presented by Mr Sanderson’s attorneys was more compatible with the degree of the injuries he experienced — four displaced broken ribs.
“The force of injury of just falling over would not be the same as if you had someone striking you and knocking you over,” Dr Gibby said. “If you have the combined force of two people, that would also increase… his likelihood for injury.”
ICYMI: Parties aim to prove who is to blame for the collision
Mr Sanderson is arguing that Ms Paltrow is essentially guilty of the accident. In his complaint filed in 2019, he alleges that after the collision, she “got up, turned and skied away, leaving Sanderson stunned, lying in the snow, seriously injured”.
“A Deer Valley ski instructor, who had been training Ms. Paltrow, but who did not see the crash, skied over, saw the injured Sanderson and skied off, falsely accusing Sanderson of having caused the crash,” the complaint states.
Ms Paltrow on the other hand, claims that her instructor did in fact witness the collision.
The rule of the hills in Utah is that those ahead of you have the right of way and that those coming from behind have to avoid others. Both Mr Sanderson and Ms Paltrow claim that they were lower down on the mountain.
Testimony is done for the day
Testimony has ceased for the day in Park City, Utah, in the trial over who’s responsible for a 2016 ski crash involving Gwyneth Paltrow.
Thanks for reading, and stay with The Independent for the latest news and analysis from the case.
Gwyneth Paltrow ski crash caused man to ‘abruptly’ lose mental function, Utah court hears
A 2016 ski crash with actor Gwyneth Paltrow caused a man to suffer long-term injuries, including to his mental health and cognitive ability, a Utah court heard on Wednesday, during a second day of testimony in a Park City courthouse.
Retired optometrist Terry Sanderson is seeking $300,000 in damages for the impact of a collision between the two at the Deer Valley resort in Utah, which experts testified left the now 76-year-old with lasting damage.
Radiologist Dr Wendell Gibby, who examined Mr Sanderson, told the court the man had the “typical hallmarks” of a brain injury, and his quality of life “deteriorated abruptly” following the crash, drastically changing things for the typically “very high-functioning, high-energy person.”
More details in our full story.
Source: independent.co.uk