Gwyneth Paltrow yesterday (Thursday, March 30) won her court case over a ski slope crash - and walked away with damages of just one dollar.
A jury in Park City, Utah, the resort where the 50-year-old Oscar winner and retired optician Terry Sanderson, 76, collided in 2016 took just over two hours to rule that Paltrow was not at fault for the crash. It left Mr Sanderson with several broken ribs and head injuries. The jury found he was "100%" to blame for the events.
Mr Sanderson had sued for over $300,000, but during closing arguments yesterday his lawyer, Lawrence Buhler suggested the jury, who had heard eight days of evidence, might award him compensation of more than $3million. Both parties were in court for the closing arguments and the verdict.
In response, Stephen Owens, for Paltrow, whose counterclaim was for just one dollar in compensatory damages, accused Mr Sanderson of trying to hold the actress and lifestyle to ransom. Mr Owens said: "“This is a meritless claim. You don’t throw a $3million dollar bombshell in the courtroom ... and walk away. You shouldn’t reward that.
“Gwyneth, who could have just paid it out, paid the ransom, (said) ‘No I’m not doing that. I’m not going to have someone hurt me and then ask me for a lot of money. I’m not going to do it,'
“We ask you for the dollar not because she had to go in and get an early massage, but because it screwed up a very carefully planned time in her life. Thank heavens the family melded well together but we want our dollar.”
Paltrow had denied Mr Sanderson's claim that she crashed into him on the slope, insisting that it was the other way around. Mr Owens said the actress had sat in court for two weeks as a “punching bag” and had been “uncomfortable” during proceedings.
“(Mr Sanderson’s) life has been laid open – that’s because of him," he said. "He hit her. He hurt her and he wants three million dollars for it. That’s not fair. The easy thing for my client would have been to write a cheque and be done with it – but what does that tell her kids? It’s wrong, it’s actually wrong that he hurt her and he wants money from her.”
Robert Sykes, another of Mr Sanderson's legal team, said his client “never came home” from the mountain following the collision, and urged jurors to help him.
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“That day that Terry left his house to go skiing… he anticipated like many other days in his life a fun day of skiing, and he never returned home that night as the same Terry. Terry has tried to get off that mountain but he’s really still there. Part of Terry will forever be (there)," he said.
In court yesterday, the actress wore a blue blazer, with a white shirt and brown trousers, and did not appear to react as the verdict was returned, though she let out a deep breath.
As she exited the courtroom, she touched Mr Sanderson on the shoulder and whispered something to him, though he did not react. She previously said she felt “very sorry” for his health decline following the incident, but maintained she had not been “at fault” and said she had been the “victim”.
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