Gwyneth Paltrow’s experts to testify in Utah ski crash trial | Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwyneth Paltrow’s attorneys are expected to call a series of experts and read depositions from her two teenage children in the first full day of the actor’s trial that they have to call witnesses to make their case.

Owing to the eight-day limit the judge imposed on the trial, Paltrow’s defence team is expected to face difficult time-management decisions, much like Terry Sanderson’s experienced last week as they attempted to juggle family members, ski instructors and experts in skiing and brain science.

Paltrow is in court fighting a lawsuit from Sanderson, a 76-year-old retired optometrist who is suing her for more than $300,000 over a 2016 collision that he says left him with broken ribs and post-concussion syndrome.

The actor and Goop founder has denied Sanderson’s claims that she crashed into him, countersuing for $1 and contending that he skied into her.

Her defence attorneys are likely to use their witnesses to continue making their two central, yet separate, arguments to the eight-member jury: that Paltrow did not ski into Sanderson and that he and his legal team have exaggerated the extent of his injuries.

As they cross-examined witnesses testifying on Sanderson’s behalf last week, they connected the two claims by raising questions about his motivations, portraying him as an “obsessed” man trying to exploit Paltrow’s wealth and celebrity.

The first five days of the trial in Park City, the wealthy Utah ski town where the actor and retired optometrist crashed, culminated with explosive testimony from Paltrow on Friday and Sanderson on Monday.

After Paltrow said a groaning Sanderson had veered into her from behind, causing her to panic and wonder if she was being “violated”, Sanderson testified that Paltrow skied into his back, sending him “flying” down the beginner run at Deer Valley resort.

“All I saw was a whole lot of snow. And I didn’t see the sky, but I was flying,” Sanderson testified on Monday morning as Paltrow sat feet away.

In a show of how the trial’s costs are likely to dwarf the amount of money at stake, both sides have contracted a series of experts to testify on their client’s behalf. But those experts have come up against the eight-day deadline the judge, Kent Holmberg, put on the trial.

Both legal teams have appeared strained as they have weighed their witness list and repeatedly asked the judge to clarify the time constraints. Paltrow’s attorneys have complained about the schedule, pointing out that their medical experts have flown in from outside the state.

Similarly, Sanderson’s team called his personal doctor to the stand last week, as well as experts in neurology, neuropsychology and radiology to testify on the extent of his injuries. They also questioned two of his three daughters, his ex-girlfriend and a ski partner who claims to be the sole witness to the collision.

To appeal to the jury, Paltrow’s attorneys will confront decisions about how to balance the jargon-dense testimony of medical experts with that of family members and acquaintances. On Monday, her legal team called Deer Valley ski instructors and patrol to testify while high-resolution animations of their recollections played on a projector between the witness stand and jury box.

On Tuesday, Paltrow’s lead counsel, Steve Owens, said he would bring experts in skiing and neurological rehabilitation to the stand on Tuesday as the trial entered its sixth day.

Though he previously said Paltrow’s children would testify, Owens said excerpts from the depositions of 18-year-old Apple and 16-year-old Moses would also be read in court. Owens said he was unsure whether his witness list would include Paltrow’s husband, the television producer Brad Falchuk, as the judge indicated he intended to adhere to the trial’s time constraints.

Gwyneth Paltrow’s attorneys are expected to call a series of experts and read depositions from her two teenage children in the first full day of the actor’s trial that they have to call witnesses to make their case.

Owing to the eight-day limit the judge imposed on the trial, Paltrow’s defence team is expected to face difficult time-management decisions, much like Terry Sanderson’s experienced last week as they attempted to juggle family members, ski instructors and experts in skiing and brain science.

Paltrow is in court fighting a lawsuit from Sanderson, a 76-year-old retired optometrist who is suing her for more than $300,000 over a 2016 collision that he says left him with broken ribs and post-concussion syndrome.

The actor and Goop founder has denied Sanderson’s claims that she crashed into him, countersuing for $1 and contending that he skied into her.

Her defence attorneys are likely to use their witnesses to continue making their two central, yet separate, arguments to the eight-member jury: that Paltrow did not ski into Sanderson and that he and his legal team have exaggerated the extent of his injuries.

As they cross-examined witnesses testifying on Sanderson’s behalf last week, they connected the two claims by raising questions about his motivations, portraying him as an “obsessed” man trying to exploit Paltrow’s wealth and celebrity.

The first five days of the trial in Park City, the wealthy Utah ski town where the actor and retired optometrist crashed, culminated with explosive testimony from Paltrow on Friday and Sanderson on Monday.

After Paltrow said a groaning Sanderson had veered into her from behind, causing her to panic and wonder if she was being “violated”, Sanderson testified that Paltrow skied into his back, sending him “flying” down the beginner run at Deer Valley resort.

“All I saw was a whole lot of snow. And I didn’t see the sky, but I was flying,” Sanderson testified on Monday morning as Paltrow sat feet away.

In a show of how the trial’s costs are likely to dwarf the amount of money at stake, both sides have contracted a series of experts to testify on their client’s behalf. But those experts have come up against the eight-day deadline the judge, Kent Holmberg, put on the trial.

Both legal teams have appeared strained as they have weighed their witness list and repeatedly asked the judge to clarify the time constraints. Paltrow’s attorneys have complained about the schedule, pointing out that their medical experts have flown in from outside the state.

Similarly, Sanderson’s team called his personal doctor to the stand last week, as well as experts in neurology, neuropsychology and radiology to testify on the extent of his injuries. They also questioned two of his three daughters, his ex-girlfriend and a ski partner who claims to be the sole witness to the collision.

To appeal to the jury, Paltrow’s attorneys will confront decisions about how to balance the jargon-dense testimony of medical experts with that of family members and acquaintances. On Monday, her legal team called Deer Valley ski instructors and patrol to testify while high-resolution animations of their recollections played on a projector between the witness stand and jury box.

On Tuesday, Paltrow’s lead counsel, Steve Owens, said he would bring experts in skiing and neurological rehabilitation to the stand on Tuesday as the trial entered its sixth day.

Though he previously said Paltrow’s children would testify, Owens said excerpts from the depositions of 18-year-old Apple and 16-year-old Moses would also be read in court. Owens said he was unsure whether his witness list would include Paltrow’s husband, the television producer Brad Falchuk, as the judge indicated he intended to adhere to the trial’s time constraints.