Jury Finds Gwyneth Paltrow Was Not At Fault For 2016 'Hit-And-Run' Ski Accident, Awards Actress $1 In Damages
Mar. 30 2023, Published 6:41 p.m. ET
A Utah jury found Gwyneth Paltrow was not responsible for the permanent brain damage that a man claimed she caused him during a “hit-and-run” ski accident, RadarOnline.com has learned.
On Thursday, the jury reached a verdict in the civil lawsuit over a 2016 accident at Deer Valley Resort.
A man named Terry Sanderson accused Paltrow of being at fault for the incident that caused him severe injuries. The jury deliberated for a little over 2 hours and found he was 100% responsible for the accident.
The jury awarded Paltrow $1.
For over a week, the he-said-she-said case captivated audiences, as Paltrow took the stand and insisted that she did not cause the accident. While Sanderson, a retired optometrist, claimed Paltrow recklessly skied into him, causing lasting physical and emotional injuries.
Sanderson sued Paltrow for $300,000 in damages and the Goop founder counter-sued for $1, plus lawyer's fees.
According to Paltrow's testimony, she was skiing with her children when she was hit in the back — and heard strange groans.
The actress said that at first, she was confused and wondered if a man had sexually assaulted her.
On the other hand, Sanderson claimed that Paltrow was recklessly skiing when she slammed into him — and then had an emotional outburst, yelling at him while he lay on the ground injured before she skied down the mountain. Sanderson claimed he suffered permanent brain damage from the crash.
Sanderson's daughter Polly Sanderson Grasham, 49, testified under oath and told the jury that after the ski crash, her father's personality drastically changed. Sanderson's daughter alleged that he became a "very angry" person and her daughter was fearful of him.
Polly said that her father "couldn’t tell the forest from the trees" after the accident and was reclusive, no longer wanting to engage socially as he did before.
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As witness testimony continued, Paltrow's attorneys called neurologist Dr. Robert Hoesch to the stand on Wednesday, to testify on Sanderson's alleged brain injury.
Dr. Hoesch claimed that at best, Sanderson suffered a "mild concussion," but was not impactful enough to alter one's personality. Instead, the neurologist suggested that pre-existing conditions caused Sanderson's cognitive decline.
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The neurologist added that if it weren't for Sanderson's history of anxiety and depression, he likely would have "more than 99 percent" recovered.
Paltrow's team appeared to use the retired optometrist's pre-existing conditions to discredit not only his recollection of events, but allege that he was money hungry and used the case to capitalize on Paltrow's successful career.
Sanderson original sought $3 million from the actress, but lowered his claim prior to the start of the trial.