Wednesday marked the second day of the trial set to determine whether or not Gwyneth Paltrow was at fault in a 2016 skiing accident in Park City, Utah. Terry Sanderson, a retired optometrist, has accused the actress of recklessly plowing into him on a ski run for beginners and injuring him severely. Sanderson is seeking $300,000 in damages; Paltrow in turn claims Sanderson struck her on the slopes and is countersuing for a symbolic $1, plus legal fees.
As was the case on Tuesday, Paltrow appeared in court wearing a creamy white sweater and gold jewelry and often looking somber. Her attorney, Steve Owens, made a point of protesting a “new camera” capturing the courtroom action that was aimed directly on his high-profile client. Paltrow, too, expressed displeasure through her attorney about reporters photographing her while she approached the Park City courthouse in her car.
Owens also made a stink about a “beheading”: a model of a brain that Sanderson’s team seemed to be using to illustrate the injuries their client had sustained on the slopes.
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Though it had been reported that Paltrow might be taking the stand on Wednesday, there were only two witnesses called to testify on day two of the trial: radiologist Wendell Gibby and neuropsychologist Sam Goldstein. Both physicians, according to Sanderson’s suit, have assessed the injuries Sanderson claims he sustained from the collision with Paltrow, including “a concussion, [a] brain injury and four broken ribs.”
Without the jury present, Sanderson’s attorneys questioned Gibby, who said he had run a series of FMRI (functional MRI) tests on Sanderson and determined that the plaintiff had issues with problem-solving.
Gibby also shared his assessment of Sanderson’s X-ray scans after his collision with Paltrow. “There were some abnormal findings on the chest X-ray, the MRI of the brain, and on the functional scan,” Gibby said. “I don’t think it was just a minor bump. He had enough force to knock him unconscious, enough force to break four of the ribs on the right side of his chest, and that, along with the deceleration of striking the ground, I think—the rib fractures corroborate that there was enough force to cause a head injury.”
“It’s very unlikely that this would have been caused by Terry running into Gwyneth Paltrow,” Gibby said. “Based upon the pattern of injuries here, he was struck from the left side and it forced him to the ground.”
Gibby was then cross-examined by one of Paltrow’s attorneys, and conceded that one FMRI performed on Sanderson appeared “mostly normal but had some abnormalities.”
“It could be that those abnormalities preceded the accident?” Paltrow’s attorney asked.
“Yes,” Gibby responded.
The trial is expected to last all week, and Paltrow’s husband, Brad Falchuk, and her children, Apple and Moses, are expected to take the stand.
