This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/mar/29/gwyneth-paltrow-call-on-more-experts-ski-crash-trial-nears-end

The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Gwyneth Paltrow to call on more experts as ski crash trial nears end Gwyneth Paltrow trial: plaintiff’s brain ‘anomalies’ pre-date crash, expert says
(about 5 hours later)
Judge in Utah trial has made it clear he wants actor’s defence team to rest their case by Thursday afternoon Neurologist called by Paltrow’s team says no evidence of post-traumatic brain injury in scans taken of Terry Sanderson
Attorneys for Gwyneth Paltrow were expected to continue relying mostly on experts to mount their defence on the seventh day of the trial over a 2016 ski collision. A neurologist called by attorneys for Gwyneth Paltrow in her ski crash trial in Utah on Wednesday testified that the man the actor and lifestyle entrepreneur collided with in 2016 showed “no evidence of post-traumatic brain injury” in scans taken before or after the incident.
The judge presiding over the trial in Park City, Utah, has made it clear he wants Paltrow’s defence team to rest their case by Thursday afternoon, in order to give the jury enough time to deliberate and come to a consensus. Where there were “anomalies” in Terry Sanderson’s brain, Dr Carl Black said, they “pre-date the accident and go back to 2009”.
Terry Sanderson, the 76-year-old retired optometrist suing Paltrow, is asking for more than $300,000, alleging her recklessness caused the crash, leaving him with four broken ribs and years of post-concussion symptoms including confusion, memory loss and irritability. Paltrow has countersued for a symbolic $1 and attorney fees, alleging Sanderson veered into her from behind. His testimony contradicted the prosecution’s claims that being skied into by Paltrow left Sanderson, 76 and a retired optometrist, with a serious brain injury.
In the second week of the trial, it is clear that both sides have spared little expense to ensure they have a roster of expert witnesses on call in case needed. Amid intense time constraints, multiple witnesses testified for longer than anticipated. On the seventh day of the trial, attorneys for Paltrow continued to rely mostly on experts to mount their defence.
Paltrow’s attorneys have asked Judge Kent Holmberg repeatedly to clarify the timeline for the eight-day trial. They reversed plans to cross-examine Sanderson in order to keep time on the clock for the four expert witnesses they said they had put up in a nearby hotel on Tuesday. Another witness, the neurologist Dr Robert Hoesch, suggested Sanderson may have “dementia”. He testified that Sanderson would have recovered from a simple concussion if he had sustained one in the crash.
Much like Sanderson’s attorneys, Paltrow’s legal team is attempting to cram into four days all testimony from family members, doctors and an accident reconstruction expert. It said on Tuesday that it planned to call the four additional experts to testify, but left the door open to call to the stand Paltrow or Brad Falchuk, her television producer husband. “If he had a concussion, it was very mild,” Hoesch said, adding that underlying depression and anxiety Sanderson has described could exist as a result of natural, age-related brain deterioration, even if he had not crashed into Paltrow seven years ago.
Holmberg gave Sanderson’s side the same amount of time to make its case. The judge, Kent Holmberg, had made it clear he wanted Paltrow’s defence to rest by Thursday afternoon, to give the jury enough time to deliberate and come to a verdict.
Last week, Paltrow took the stand and said the ski collision was not her fault. Her lead counsel, Steve Owens, said earlier in the week he planned to call Paltrow’s teenage children – 16-year-old Moses and 18-year-old Apple – to the witness stand. But since Sanderson’s testimony extended into Monday, Paltrow’s legal team read depositions from the two children for the record instead of calling them to the stand to testify. That produced a rush of 12 experts, collectively attempting to show jurors the collision could not have been Paltrow’s fault and that she is not responsible for Sanderson’s symptoms.
Over the last two days, Paltrow’s defence team has attempted to hold the jury’s attention by playing multiple high-resolution animations while witnesses, including a collision expert, biomedical engineer, physician and ski instructor have all testified. Sanderson is asking for more than $300,000, alleging Paltrow’s recklessness caused the crash, leaving him with four broken ribs and years of post-concussion symptoms including confusion, memory loss and irritability.
The animations have not been included as trial evidence but Sanderson’s attorneys objected to their inclusion, arguing Paltrow’s team was seeking to mislead the jury. Paltrow has counter-sued for a symbolic $1 and attorney fees, alleging Sanderson hit her from behind.
Though the trial has titillated spectators worldwide it has tested the jury through hours of expert-witness testimony. Earlier this week, the court heard from Paltrow’s daughter, 18-year-old Apple Martin, who said she was skiing ahead of her mother and didn’t see the crash but learned of it when her mother was 10 minutes late for lunch and had explained that another skier ran into her.
After both sides give closing arguments on Thursday, the jury will probably make its decision later that day or on Friday. “She came in and she looked a bit shocked. She said this a-hole ran into me, right into my back. She did this motion showing how it happened” she said.
Martin said her mother was “frantic” and “in a state of shock” and decided to take the rest of the day off from the slopes.
“I never see her really shaken up like that,” she said. “She was clearly, visibly upset and she was in a little bit of pain. That’s why she went to the spa to get a massage.”
Apple Martin’s brother, Moses Martin, 16, said he saw the collision and his mother had been on the snow for two minutes before getting up.
“I stood there wondering what was going on and then I remember after we went to eat lunch,” he said. Moses, who was nine at the time, recalled that at lunch his mom said “she got hit or ran into”.
Paltrow’s children had been expected to testify in person but the trial, in its second week, is running out of time.
Nonetheless, the defence left the door open to call Paltrow or Brad Falchuk, her television producer husband.
Associated Press contributed reporting