Gwyneth Paltrow Wins Utah Ski Crash Trial and Is Granted $1 in Damages

Gwyneth Paltrow's civil trial about a 2016 ski accident has come to an end.

A jury in Park City, Utah has found retired optometrist Terry Sanderson to be 100 percent at fault in the collision case and said he caused the Oscar winner harm. The jury found Paltrow was not at fault and granted her the requested $1 in damages. 

After the verdict was read, Paltrow was seen leaning down to talk to Sanderson. According to a source on site, she told him, "I wish you well."

The March 30 decision comes after more than a week of hearing arguments about whether Paltrow or Sanderson was harmed in the ski collision and whether either party, both or nobody is at fault as a result of negligence.

Sanderson was seeking more than $300,000 and had accused Paltrow of running into his back while skiing at Deer Valley ski resort in 2016. In a lawsuit filed in 2019—in which he initially sought $3.1 million before amending his complaint—he claimed the alleged ski crash left him with a "brain injury, four broken ribs and other serious injuries."  

However, Paltrow denied knocking into him and said it was Sanderson who caused the ski collision. In her 2019 countersuit, she alleged he "plowed into her back" and that he blamed her for the collision "in an attempt to exploit her celebrity and wealth." She sought a symbolic $1 as well as the cost of attorney fees. Sanderson has denied the allegations.

Both Paltrow and Sanderson shared their sides of the story in their testimonies. At one point, the Goop mogul said she had briefly wondered if she had been sexually assaulted after Sanderson allegedly ran into her. Although, she made it clear she was not accusing him of sexual assault.

"That was a quick thought that went through my head when I was trying to reconcile what was happening," she testified. "I was skiing and two skis came between my skis, forcing my legs apart, and then there was a body pressing against me and there was a very strange grunting noise. So my brain was trying to make sense of what was happening."

Paltrow said she then "fell over with Mr. Sanderson" and that they hit the ground. She alleged she then yelled "you skied directly into my f'ing back" and that he apologized. 

However, Sanderson detailed a different turn of events and said he'd heard a "blood-curdling scream" before Paltrow allegedly ran into him.

"It was like somebody was out of control and going to hit a tree and was going to die," he told the court, "and that's what I had until I was hit."

They weren't the only ones to speak about that day. Craig Ramon, who was part of Sanderson's ski group, alleged Paltrow "slammed" into the physician's back. The actress' children Apple Martin, 18, and Moses Martin, 16—whom she shares with ex Chris Martin and had joined her on the ski trip—also had their depositions read, with Apple's saying Paltrow told her, "This a-hole ran into me. He ran right into my back." A ski instructor, a biomedical engineer and a doctor were among the many to take the stand as well.

But now, after more than a week of making headlines, a decision has been reached.

This story was updated on March 30, 2023 at 5:54 p.m. PT with additional source information.

 

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