31-03-23, 01:25
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Re: Gwyneth Paltrow WINS Ski Crash Trial
Gwyneth Paltrow Ski Crash Trial:
Paltrow Awarded $1 and Cleared of Fault Over Ski Crash
BBC 31 MAR 2023
A jury has found US actress Gwyneth Paltrow was not at fault for a 2016 ski crash at a resort in Utah.
Retired optometrist Terry Sanderson, 76, had said Paltrow crashed into him, leaving him with life-changing injuries.
He sought $300,000 (£245,000) in damages.
Paltrow, 50, blamed him for the accident, countersuing for $1 plus legal fees.
Listening to the verdict in court, Paltrow was expressionless, staring straight ahead and appearing to nod slightly. She then left the courtroom, declining requests for comments.
On her way out, she briefly stopped to speak to Mr Sanderson. He later said she told him: "I wish you well."
Contradictory stories
Speaking to media outside, her lawyer Steve Owens said Paltrow "has a history of advocating for what she believes in".
"This situation was no different and she will continue to stand up for what is right," he said.
Afterwards Mr Sanderson called the verdict "very disappointing" and maintained he had been the one hit on the slope.
The two-week trial heard from dozens of witnesses with contradictory stories about who crashed in to whom. After three hours of deliberation, the jury found Mr Sanderson entirely at fault for the incident in a unanimous decision, and awarded Paltrow $1.
In Mr Sanderson's telling, the Oscar-winner slammed in to him on a beginner slope at Deer Valley Resort in Park City. Paltrow then skied away while he remained unconscious in the snow with broken ribs, Mr Sanderson said.
The accident left him with life-altering brain trauma, he said.
On the stand, Paltrow offered an entirely different account of the accident, saying Mr Sanderson had skied directly into her back as she went down the slope with her two children.
"I thought, 'Is this a practical joke? Is someone doing something perverted? This is really, really strange,'" she said in her testimony.
Paltrow's lawyers worked to undermine Mr Sanderson's claim that his health was ruined by the crash, pointing ou the former eye doctor took trips after the accident to South America, Europe and Morocco.
And they accused Mr Sanderson of trying to exploit their client's fame, asking about an email he sent to his daughters shortly after the collision, in which he wrote: "I'm famous".
The closely watched case hinged on skiing etiquette, with both parties claiming that they were the downhill skier and therefore had right of way.
Graphic showing the two versions of what happened: who was higher up and therefore to blame for the collision but both Sanderson and Paltrow claim to have been further downhill
Summary
An eight-person jury clears US star Gwyneth Paltrow in the civil trial over a skiing accident in Utah in 2016
The jury found retired eye doctor Terry Sanderson 100% at fault over the incident
The pair sued each other over the incident - Sanderson was looking for $300,000 in damages whilst Paltrow's counter case was for $1 plus her legal fees
Sanderson claimed that the accident at the upmarket resort left him with brain damage and broken ribs and damaged his relationships with his family
Paltrow denied being responsible for the accident and has been in court for every day of the trial
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