Gwyneth Paltrow accuser calls Utah ski crash ‘serious smack’

Mar 27, 2023, 12:13 AM | Updated: 5:30 pm

Gwyneth Paltrow carries two beverages as she walks past Terry Sanderson, the man suing her, after t...

Gwyneth Paltrow carries two beverages as she walks past Terry Sanderson, the man suing her, after testifying in court on Friday, March 24, 2023, in Park City, Utah. Sanderson accuses her of crashing into him on a beginner run at Deer Valley Resort, leaving him with brain damage and four broken ribs. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool)

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — The man suing Gwyneth Paltrow over a 2016 skiing collision at an upscale Utah resort told a jury Monday that the actor-turned-lifestyle influencer crashed into him from behind and sent him “absolutely flying.”

“All I saw was a whole lot of snow. And I didn’t see the sky, but I was flying,” said Terry Sanderson, a 76-year-old retired optometrist, calling the impact “a serious smack.”

That’s the opposite of what Paltrow testified, and the jury has heard dueling narratives as the trial enters its second week. Paltrow said Sanderson was uphill and hit her from behind. He’s suing her for more than $300,000, claiming she skied recklessly and that he has permanent brain damage from the crash that altered his personality.

On the stand Friday, Paltrow said Sanderson knocked into her gently from behind but that the collision escalated as the two skidded down the beginner slope. She said his skis veered between her legs, causing her to briefly panic as she heard a man groaning behind her. Paltrow was present in court Monday.

Sanderson recalled a screaming woman skiing out of control and hitting him square in the back. Craig Ramon, another skier who says he’s the sole eyewitness to the collision, testified last week that he saw Paltrow hit Sanderson.

Regardless of who hit who, both sides agree the two then fell down and Paltrow landed on top of Sanderson. Paltrow’s attorneys have disputed the extent of Sanderson’s injuries and post-crash disorientation, but both sides say the collision resulted in Sanderson’s four broken ribs and a concussion.

Sanderson was brought to tears throughout his testimony Monday, particularly when he appeared unable to focus or remember things.

His legal team attempted to present his confusion and memory lapses to support their brain-damage argument. Paltrow’s lawyers used it to undercut his reliability as a witness.

Sanderson’s testimony also resurfaced questions about the potential that a GoPro helmet camera may have documented the crash. Though no footage made it into evidence for the trial, attorneys have repeatedly questioned witnesses about an email one of his daughters sent that said: “I also can’t believe this is all on GoPro.”

That daughter, Shae Herath, testified last week that her words were mere speculation that someone on the upscale mountain must be outfitted with a helmet camera because they are a fixture at ski resorts.

Paltrow’s attorneys have continued to raise questions about what happened to the footage that Sanderson and his family members referred to.

It became clear Monday the potentially explosive evidence wouldn’t explode.

Judge Kent Holmberg said online sleuths had found the link and that its contents would be included as evidence. It didn’t contain GoPro footage. Instead, it was to a chat between members of Sanderson’s ski group, in which Ramon — the man claiming to be the crash’s sole eyewitness — said on the day of the crash that Paltrow had crashed into Sanderson.

“Terry was knocked out cold. Bad hit to the head!” Ramon wrote. “I did see the hit. Terry did not know his name.”

The exchange made clear that Ramon thought Paltrow crashed into Sanderson years before any lawsuit was filed. It also shows Sanderson and those skiing with him knew the woman in the crash was Paltrow.

After four-and-a-half days of Sanderson’s attorneys calling witnesses, Paltrow’s defense team has equal time to present their case. They brought one of her family’s four ski instructors to the stand Monday afternoon. Attorneys said Monday that Paltrow’s two teenage children, Moses and Apple, would have their depositions read into the record later in the week instead of appearing in court on the witness stand.

Jurors sat transfixed as Paltrow’s attorneys played computer animated reconstructions of how they say the collision occurred, with high enough resolution to show trees, children’s ski coats and multiple vantage points.

For their first witness, the defense called Eric Christiansen, a mustachioed 40-year veteran ski instructor who was giving a lesson to Paltrow’s family at Deer Valley Resort the day of the collision. He said he was monitoring much of the mountain during the exact moment Sanderson and Paltrow collided and didn’t see the moment of impact but saw what happened immediately before and after.

In testimony that wandered into instruction about skiing technique, Christiansen said Paltrow was making “short radius turns” while Sanderson was skiing down the groomed run “edge to edge” and “quite dynamically.”

He said he remembered Paltrow landed on top of Sanderson because he approached and took her skis off, then Sanderson’s.

“I believe you told me once if a soccer player takes out someone’s legs, they’re underneath,” Paltrow’s attorney, Steve Owens, said as he asked questions about the crash.

Paltrow’s attorneys plan to depose a slate of medical experts who are expected to undercut testimony from the neurologists, radiologists and psychologists hired by Sanderson’s team.

The trial has also touched on the habits and hobbies of wealthy people like Sanderson and Paltrow as well as the power — and burden — of celebrity. The amount of money at stake for both sides pales in comparison to the typical legal costs of a multiyear lawsuit, expert witnesses, a private security detail and high-resolution animation.

Much of the questioning throughout the trial’s first five days has revolved around Sanderson’s motivation for suing Paltrow. Her attorneys have argued the lawsuit is an attempt by an “obsessed” man to exploit Paltrow’s wealth and fame. Sanderson’s attorneys have attempted to paint Paltrow as a carefree movie star who hurt an aging man and is unwilling to take responsibility for the fallout.

“No one believed how serious my injuries were,” said Sanderson, who enjoyed wine tasting and international travel before the crash. “There was lots of insults added to that singular incident.”

___

Associated Press journalist Kiana Doyle in Seattle contributed to this report.

United States News

FILE - A former iron ore processing plant near Hoyt Lakes, Minn., that would become part of a propo...

Associated Press

US Army Corps revokes permit for Minnesota mine, cites threat to downstream tribe’s water standards

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Tuesday it has revoked a crucial federal permit for the proposed NewRange Copper Nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota, a project popularly known as PolyMet, saying the permit did not comply with the water quality standards set by a sovereign downstream tribe. The Corps said in […]

17 hours ago

FILE - The North Carolina Capitol stands, July 24, 2013, in Raleigh, N.C. The promotion of certain ...

Associated Press

North Carolina legislature approves limits on politics, race discussion in state workplaces

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The promotion of certain beliefs that some North Carolina lawmakers have likened to “critical race theory” is on track to be banned in state government workplaces, under a bill that received final legislative approval on Tuesday. The two-pronged proposal that passed the GOP-controlled Senate 30-15, with three Democrats and all present […]

17 hours ago

File - The Apple Vision Pro headset is displayed in a showroom on the Apple campus after it's unvei...

Associated Press

Apple’s Vision Pro goggles unleash a mixed reality that could lead to more innovation and isolation

CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) — Reporters are a skeptical bunch, so it was unusual to hear so many of them raving about their firsthand experience with Apple’s next Big Thing: the high-priced headset called Vision Pro, a device infused with totally virtual reality as well as augmented reality that projects digital images on top of real-world […]

17 hours ago

Associated Press

Attorney for man charged in 1972 Chicago-area slaying of teen wants statements suppressed

JOLIET, Ill. (AP) — An attorney for a Minnesota man charged in the stabbing death of a 15-year-old suburban Chicago girl more than half a century ago wants statements he made at a police station suppressed. Attorney Terry Ekl argued in a recent defense motion that statements Barry Whelpley made to Naperville investigators at the […]

17 hours ago

Associated Press

Artist Françoise Gilot, acclaimed painter who loved and later left Picasso, is dead at 101

NEW YORK (AP) — Françoise Gilot, a prolific and acclaimed painter who produced art for well more than a half-century but was nonetheless more famous for her turbulent relationship with Pablo Picasso — and for leaving him — died Tuesday in New York City, where she had lived for decades. She was 101. Gilot’s daughter, […]

17 hours ago

Associated Press

Rapidly growing Denver to pick new mayor amid mounting big-city problems

DENVER (AP) — Denver will choose its next mayor Tuesday in a runoff election between two moderate candidates seeking to lead a rapidly growing city faced with out-of-control housing costs and increased homelessness. The city has become the tech and business hub of the Mountain West but now faces problems similar to those in San […]

17 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

...

OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center

5 mental health myths you didn’t know were made up

Helping individuals understand mental health diagnoses like obsessive compulsive spectrum disorder or generalized anxiety disorder isn’t always an easy undertaking. After all, our society tends to spread misconceptions about mental health like wildfire. This is why being mindful about how we talk about mental health is so important. We can either perpetuate misinformation about already […]

...

SANDERSON FORD

Thank you to Al McCoy for 51 years as voice of the Phoenix Suns

Sanderson Ford wants to share its thanks to Al McCoy for the impact he made in the Valley for more than a half-decade.

...

Desert Institute for Spine Care

Spinal fusion surgery has come a long way, despite misconceptions

As Dr. Justin Field of the Desert Institute for Spine Care explained, “we've come a long way over the last couple of decades.”

Gwyneth Paltrow accuser calls Utah ski crash ‘serious smack’