Gwyneth Paltrow is expected to testify Friday in a civil trial charging her with negligently colliding with a retired doctor while skiing at Deer Valley Resort in 2016.
Paltrow’s husband, television writer and producer Brad Falchuk, and their two teenage sons with ex-husband Chris Martin, Apple and Moses, are also expected to testify during the trial, which runs until next week. Paltrow’s family had been skiing together while on vacation at Deer Valley Resort when the accident occurred.
So far, the jury has only heard witnesses supporting Paltrow’s accuser, retired optometrist Terry Sanderson, 76.
Medical experts, a ski buddy, a former romantic partner and Sanderson’s daughter have taken the stand during the first three days of the trial.
The goals were to paint a picture of a once physically active and outgoing man whose health and quality of life began to deteriorate after the accident, and to convince the jury that Paltrow’s allegedly out-of-control skiing was to blame.
“When we’re talking, I don’t feel like he’s listening to me, when he’s having a conversation with my kids, I don’t think he’s listening to them,” her daughter, Polly Sanderson Grasham, 49, testified Thursday, recalling her. the father’s struggles to participate socially at important events or during day-to-day conversations. “I just feel like, ‘Where are you? Where is your headspace right now, because you’re not here with me,’” she said.
Lawyers for the Goop founder responded, arguing to the jury that Sanderson’s health problems have little to do with the accident, but rather are the result of normal aging and pre-existing health conditions that are progressing.
Although both Paltrow and Sanderson agreed that they collided on the slopes in 2016, the central question of the trial remains: who was downhill and who was uphill during the crash?
The jury will have to weigh the question, which revolves around the ski etiquette that grants the right of way to the alpine skier. They must decide whether Paltrow was negligent during the encounter.
Paltrow’s version of events almost completely contradicts Sanderson’s. She has long maintained that she was the downhill skier and that Sanderson ran into her.
On the day of the incident, Paltrow was on a family vacation, skiing with a ski instructor with her two sons, her then-boyfriend Falchuk, and their children. His family is expected to support Paltrow’s version of events.
Although Paltrow’s family did not witness the accident, her lawyers have said her son, Moses, was nearby immediately afterward.
Testimony on Wednesday focused on medical evidence that witnesses said showed Paltrow was the skier, as well as Sanderson’s declining health.
Radiologist Dr. Wendell Gibby said brain imaging suggested Sanderson’s head trauma was likely caused by a skier running into him, supporting Sanderson’s claims that Paltrow hit him. He said the lasting effects on Sanderson’s general health were consistent with the severity of the collision. “The rib fractures certainly corroborate that there was enough force to cause a head injury,” Gibby added.
Neuropsychologist Dr. Samuel Goldstein called Sanderson’s post-crash trajectory a “sharp and rapid downturn.”
“If it wasn’t for that particular accident, the life that I was living in the six months to a year before that, I would continue to live,” Goldstein said.
Sanderson originally sought $3.1 million in damages, but his attorneys said in court Tuesday that they are only seeking about $300,000 in the amended claim on trial.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
