Gwyneth Paltrow ski collision trial enters second week of testimony

The Utah civil trial involving actress Gwyneth Paltrow and a man who is accusing her of wrongdoing in relation to a 2016 ski collision resumed Monday for its second week of proceedings.

Terry Sanderson, the retired optometrist who is suing Paltrow, is currently testifying.

Craig Ramon, a witness who testified previously, was recalled to the stand to discuss newly obtained evidence related to social media comments earlier Monday.

Lawyers indicated Friday that following Sanderson’s testimony, the case would be turned over to Paltrow’s lawyers to present their defense.

TV producer Brad Falchuck, Paltrow’s husband, and her children Apple Martin and Moses Martin could also testify on Monday.

Paltrow, who has been present in the Utah courtroom since the trial began last Tuesday, took the stand on Friday to testify.

Sanderson, 76, has accused Paltrow of crashing into him and causing him lasting injuries and brain damage while they were both skiing on a beginner’s run on a Utah mountain. Sanderson also claims Paltrow and her ski instructor skied away after the incident without getting him medical care.

Paltrow filed a countersuit against Sanderson in 2019 claiming that he skied into her.

The two have been in a legal battle for seven years.

In roughly two hours of testimony on Friday, Paltrow repeated her assertion that Sanderson skied directly into her back and caused the collision while being questioned by Sanderson’s attorney, Kristin A. VanOrman.

Paltrow said the collision happened on the first day of a trip to Deer Valley Resort that she was on with her two kids, then-boyfriend Falchuck 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.

Sanderson had initially sued Paltrow for $3.1 million dollars, but later amended his complaint and is now seeking more than $300,000 in damages, according to court documents.

Paltrow is seeking $1 in damages, plus attorneys’ fees.

Prior to Paltrow’s testimony, a series of witnesses have testified including Sanderon’s daughters Polly Sanderson Grasham and Shae Sanderson Herath, and Sanderson’s friends, Mark Herath and Craig Ramon.

The jury has also heard from a number of expert witnesses.