Interaction of a Snowboarder with a Mountain Girl: Terry Sanderson’s Sustained Autonomous Offence Revisited
The actress and businesswoman was present in the Park City, UT courtroom as a jury was seated and opening statements began in the case. Terry Sanderson, 76, has accused her of crashing into him and causing him serious injuries while they were both skiing on a Utah mountain in Feb. 2016.
Sanderson, a retired optometrist, filed the lawsuit in 2019, three years after the collision on the mountainside. Since then, he has alleged that the accident left him with a brain injury, four broken ribs and emotional damage. Sanderson also claimed Paltrow left the scene without giving him her name, contact information or calling for help.
According to documents, Paltrow had initially been sued for more than three million dollars but later amended her complaint and is now seeking more than $300,000 in damages.
The judge gave instructions to the jury Tuesday, and the attorneys for both sides introduced themselves to the court before opening statements began.
The trial is likely to last a few days. It is not yet known if Paltrow will take the stand, but her attorney told the jury they would hear from family members who were skiing with her at the time of the incident.
Lawrence Buhler, an attorney for Sanderson, began opening arguments stating, “Distracted skiers cause crashes. Defendant Gwyneth Paltrow knew that looking up the mountain and to the side while skiing down the mountain was dangerous.”
Paltrow’s attorney Stephen Owens told the jury that Sanderson’s claims that the actress bolted from the mountain after ramming into him were totally fabricated.
The day after Sanderson rolled into a woman and hit him in front of a camera: He apologized to Sanderson and the countersuit
“You’re going to feel sorrow for [Sanderson] but that’s not why you’re here. “You’re here to figure out if someone crashed into someone or if no one did it,” he said.
Meantime, the Oscar-winning actress and entrepreneur filed her own countersuit about a month after Sanderson in 2019. In it, she recounted the events of the day, blaming him for the crash. She said he knocked her to the ground with a full body blow. According to Paltrow, she was angry with Sanderson and he apologized.
On Wednesday morning, Paltrow’s attorney Steve Owens raised an objection to a still photographer in the courtroom transmitting a photo of her. Judge Kent Holmberg agreed it was a violation of the court’s decorum order, explaining still images of the proceedings should “follow the mic.” The reporter’s camera was taken and the judge told them it would be removed if something happened again.
Before a lunch break, radiologist Wendell Gibby testified that Sanderson “deteriorated” after the collision and stopped doing many of the activities he did prior to the incident.