Gwyneth Paltrow arrives for ski crash trial in pair of $278 Raybans and $1,200 Celine boots as her legal team prepares to call medical experts
- Terry Sanderson, 76, who is suing Gwyneth Paltrow over a 2016 ski crash in which he claims he was left with permanent injuries, took the stand today
- Paltrow has countersued for $1 and attorney fees, alleging that Sanderson was at fault and veered into her from behind. She testified on the stand Friday
- Follow Dailymail.com’s live blog for all the latest updates on the trial
Gwyneth Paltrow’s trial over a 2016 ski-slope pile-up has entered its sixth day, with a slate of medical experts set to testify for the defense.
Paltrow’s children Apple, 18, and Moses, 16, had been due to take the stand Monday but could not due to a series of overruns and may now appear tomorrow, via written statements or not at all.
The glamorous actress, 50, arrived shortly before proceedings began at the earlier than usual time of 8.45am wearing her customary $278 Rayban aviator sunglasses, olive green coat and $1,200 tan Celine boots.
Underneath it, the wellness guru wore a pair of gray wide-leg cropped culottes and a blush pink blouse.
The case, which has transfixed the US, centers on a 2016 ski crash that allegedly left retired optometrist Terry Sanderson, 76, badly hurt.
Gwyneth Paltrow arrives at Park City District Court in Park City on Tuesday
The actress was wearing her customary $278 Rayban aviator sunglasses, olive green coat and $1,200 tan Celine boots
Gwyneth Paltrow sits at the defense table with her attorneys on Tuesday in Park City, Utah, wearing a pair of gray wide-leg cropped culottes and a blush pink blouse
Terry Sanderson took the stand Monday morning, where he recreated the ‘blood-curdling scream’ he claims he heard just before Paltrow allegedly slammed into him
Court began with a brief appearance from Steve Graff, the Vice-President of mountain operations at the Deer Valley resort who said he had no concerns about a report written about the crash by ski instructor Eric Christiansen.
He was followed by Dr Irving Scher, an expert in biomechanics who specializes in ski performance and is the president of the International Society for Snow Sports Safety.
Dr Scher testified that lateral rib fractures can be caused by compression and not just by side contact – contradicting a key medical opinion put forward by Sanderson’s team whose expert Richard Boehme said the dad-of-three’s injuries could only have been caused by a blow to the side.
Sanderson claimed Paltrow slammed into him while he was skiing on a green run located on Deer Valley’s Flagstaff Mountain.
Paltrow says the opposite happened: he collided with her leaving her ‘sore’ and angrily screaming ‘you skied directly into my f***ing back’ at the septuagenarian.
Dr Irving Scher, an expert in biomechanics who specializes in ski performance testified that lateral rib fractures can be caused by compression and not just by side contact – contradicting a key medical opinion put forward by Sanderson’s team
Scher wrote complex physics equations on a board testifying that Sanderson’s version of events does not match the law of physics
During his testimony on Monday, Sanderson described how he had been enjoying his day on the slopes before hearing a ‘bloodcurdling scream’.
Mimicking the sound, the dad-of-three said: ‘Everything was great and than I heard a bloodcurdling scream. Then boom! It was like somebody was out of control, was going to hit a tree and going to die.’
Sanderson added: ‘I got hit in my back so hard, it felt like it was perfectly centered. Serious, serious smack. And I’m flying. I’m absolutely flying. All I saw was a whole load of snow.’
Court also heard from ski instructor Eric Christiansen who had been teaching Paltrow’s son Moses to ski that day.
Paltrow (in black) is seen skiing just slightly in front and over to the right of Terry Sanderson (in blue) in an animated reconstruction after she told the court that he crashed into her. Paltrow’s children Moses and Apple are seen skiing with their instructor Kari Oaks
Sanderson explained: ‘I got hit in my back so hard, it felt like it was perfectly centered. Serious, serious smack. And I’m flying. I’m absolutely flying. All I saw was a whole load of snow’
He denied Sanderson’s claim that he had been knocked unconscious and said he attempted to help both him and Paltrow – contrary to his claims of a ‘hit and run’ crash that left him marooned on the mountaintop with no help.
Christiansen also said he had not yelled at Sanderson, asked the 76-year-old if he was OK and had helped him put his skis back on before following his client down the Bandana run for lunch.
On Friday, jurors heard Paltrow’s account of the crash – including that she initially thought she was being sexually assaulted by Sanderson.
The actress said she heard Sanderson making a ‘groaning noise’ as they collided and initially thought she was being assaulted by someone ‘perverted’.
She said: ‘He was making some strange noises that sounded male and he was large so I assumed he was a male.
‘I was confused at first because it’s a very strange thing to happen on a ski slope. I got very upset a few seconds later.
‘There was a body pressing against me and he was making a groaning noise. I didn’t know, is this a practical joke or is someone doing something perverted?’
Last week, jurors heard Paltrow’s account of the crash – including that she initially thought she was being sexually assaulted by Sanderson
Gwyneth Paltrow’s kids Apple, 18, and Moses, 16, are expected to testify in the actress’ $300,000 civil lawsuit over 2016 ski crash which left Utah optometrist with a brain injuries
Paltrow in a social media post the year before the accident at Deer Valley resort in Utah. She captioned the post: ’20 years later and I still got it #justlikeridingabike’
Paltrow denied she had been watching son Moses ski at the time of the crash but was tripped up by testimony from her son’s instructor Kari Oaks.
Conceding the point, she said: ‘I can still watch my children ski and be skied directly into my back by someone and that’s what happened.
‘My daughter was down the hill and my son was to my left, I was skiing and my eyes were not just on Moses.’
At the start of the trial last week, the court had heard from Sanderson’s lead attorney Laurence Buhler who described the actress as ‘callous and reckless’ in his opening speech.
Paltrow’s lawyer Stephen Owens then responded by describing the retiree’s claims as ‘complete B.S’ before attempting to pick holes in his case as a succession of medical experts testified that Sanderson does have a brain injury and it was caused by the crash.
Florida-based neurologist Dr Richard Boehme also told court that Paltrow caused the crash – telling jurors that her version of events is inconsistent with the four broken ribs Sanderson was left with following the February 2016 crash.
His daughters Shae Herath, 52, and Polly Grasham, 49, also spoke in court – detailing the dramatic personality changes their father had allegedly suffered due to his head injury.
Both women became tearful during their testimony and described how Sanderson is now unable to complete the simplest tasks and is easily confused.
Shae said: ‘My dad has quite a few personality issues, the injury to his brain has caused significant damage – enough to cause personality changes.
‘My dad is very insecure, he doesn’t show it but he doesn’t trust his brain anymore. He used to be able to multitask and do all sorts of tasks and now he can’t follow through.
‘As his daughter, I feel that his life is exhausting.’
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