A verdict has been reached in a Utah civil trial over a 2016 ski collision involving Gwyneth Paltrow.
The jury has decided that Paltrow is not at fault for the crash after the jury assigned 100 per cent of the blame to Terry Sanderson. She has been awarded the requested $US1 (approx. $1.50) sum she sued over.
Courtroom video showed Paltrow breathing a sigh of relief as the verdict was read, which was followed by a statement from Judge Holmberg. Paltrow opted not to make a statement following the verdict.
Watch the video above.
The jury received the case on Thursday afternoon (Friday morning in Australia). They deliberated for about two and a half hours.
After the verdict was delivered, Holmberg congratulated all parties on their professionalism during the trial, which was watched via livestream worldwide over eight days.
Terry Sanderson, a retired optometrist, sued Paltrow, an Oscar-winning actor and the founder and CEO of Goop, over a 2016 collision at the Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah. Sanderson claims Paltrow caused the collision which resulted in him sustaining four broken ribs and brain damage from a concussion.
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Sanderson’s attorney on Thursday (Friday in Australia) asked the jury to consider his client’s brain injury and life expectancy, suggesting the jury award $US3.2 million (approx. $4.8 million) to Sanderson.
Sanderson’s complaint alleged his damages were more than $US300,000 (approx. $450,000).
Paltrow testified last week that Sanderson skied into her. She sought $US1 (approx. $1.50) in damages, plus attorneys’ fees in her counterclaim.
In closing arguments, Sanderson’s attorney, Robert Sykes, rejected claims that Sanderson is seeking fame and attention.
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The day of the collision, he said, Sanderson “never came home the same.”
“Part of him will always be on that mountain,” he said. “We hope that you will help bring Terry home off that mountain with a fair verdict for today.”
Paltrow’s attorney, Steve Owens, meanwhile, asserted in closing that for Paltrow, it’s an issue of right and wrong and that it would be “easy” for Paltrow “to write a check and be done with it,” but said that would be “wrong.”
“It’s actually wrong that he hurt her, and he wants money from her,” he told the jury.
He added, later, “He’s entitled to be here today, but he’s not entitled to be rewarded for hurting her.”
Paltrow’s attorney James Egan, in his portion of closing, referred back to the opposing side’s comments, saying: “Ms. Paltrow wants him off the mountain, too, but she should not be responsible for the cost of that.”
Key testimony
Paltrow told the jury the collision happened on the first day of a trip to Deer Valley that she was on with her two kids, then-boyfriend Brad Falchuk and his two children.
She testified that two skis came in between her skis, forcing her legs apart and that she heard a “grunting noise” when she felt a body pressing against her back before they both came crashing down together.
Paltrow said she did not ask about the condition of Sanderson after they collided but claimed she stayed on the mountain “long enough for him to say that he was OK” and to stand up.
During his testimony, Sanderson reiterated claims it was Paltrow who skied into her.
“I got hit in my back so hard and right at my shoulder blades and it felt like it was perfectly centered and the fists and the poles were right at the bottom of my shoulder blades, serious, serious smack and I’ve never been hit that hard,” Sanderson testified. “All I saw was a whole lot of snow.”
Sanderson disputed suggestions he sued Paltrow to exploit her fame and wealth.
“I thought, ‘I’m not into celebrity worship,'” Sanderson told the jury about learning she was the other skier involved in their collision.
Jurors also heard from a number of expert witnesses, Sanderson’s daughters and testimony from ski resort employees. Testimony from Paltrow’s two children, Apple and Moses Martin, was also read to the jury during the trial.
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