Gwyneth Paltrow caused 2016 Utah skiing accident, witness testifies as trial opens#news
Channel: YoutubeNews
Date: 2023-03-22

Gwyneth Paltrow caused 2016 Utah skiing accident, witness testifies as trial opens

Paltrow is accused in a lawsuit of injuring another skier at Deer Valley, causing a concussion and broken ribs, and leaving without asking whether he needed help.

An eyewitness testified Tuesday that actor Gwyneth Paltrow crashed into another skier, injuring him, in an accident at Utah’s Deer Valley Resort in 2016, a sequence of events Paltrow's lawyer disputed.

Paltrow was in court for the first day of the trial in Summit County, Utah, where she is accused of causing Terry Sanderson "to suffer a concussion, brain injury and four broken ribs," according to an initial lawsuit filing.

Paltrow denies being at fault in the Feb. 26, 2016, accident and said Sanderson was exploiting her wealth and celebrity.

Sanderson is seeking $300,000, amended down from a previous request for $3.1 million. Paltrow is countersuing Sanderson for $1.

Paltrow and Sanderson both dispute who hit whom and who was farther up the hill at the time of the crash. Deer Valley's website says the person ahead or downhill has the right of way.

Sanderson's attorney, Lawrence Buhler, alleged in his opening statement that Paltrow was not looking in front of her as she was skiing downhill and instead was looking at her children, who were there with instructors.

Buhler said the sole eyewitness to the crash, Craig Ramon, was in a group that went skiing with Sanderson and roughly 35 feet uphill at the time.

Sanderson was not responsive after the crash, and Paltrow was able to get back up, Buhler said. One of the two instructors in Paltrow's party skied to them, along with Ramon, but is alleged to have left before Sanderson received medical aid.

Ramon, who described himself as Sanderson's acquaintance, corroborated the allegations against Paltrow in his testimony.

"We were skiing down the run, and I heard this, this scream, and I looked over, and about one or two seconds ... I hear this scream, and I see this skier slam into the back of Terry," Ramon said Tuesday.

Paltrow hit Sanderson "hard" and bounced off him, landing a few feet downhill to Sanderson's right, Ramon said. Once Ramon reached them, Paltrow got up but did not answer whether she was OK, he said.

An instructor then approached the group and was "very hostile" to Sanderson, who was still facedown in the snow, Ramon said.

"He starts yelling at Terry, 'What did you do?' ... and Terry’s not moving, he’s facedown, and he keeps saying, 'What did you do?'" Ramon said.  

Paltrow left the scene about three to four minutes after the crash, Ramon said, without identifying herself or asking whether anyone needed help.

During that time, Ramon said, Sanderson was “out of it” and complained about his ribs.

The instructor stayed a few moments longer, Ramon said, "yanked" Sanderson back up to his feet without checking for back or neck injuries and left shortly after.

Ramon eventually flagged down a member of the resort's ski patrol, and staff members took Sanderson to a first aid station on a sled, he said.