PALT ROW HEADS TO TRIAL
May testify in ‘hit-&-run’ ski suit
Gwyneth Paltrow will go to trial in Utah this week after being sued over a “hit and run” 2016 ski crash on the slopes — and the “Goop” founder could take the stand in her own defense, The Post has learned.
Retired optometrist Terry Sanderson sued the health-conscious star for $3.1 million in 2019, claiming she seriously injured him when she was skiing “out of control” and knocked into him at a Park City, Utah, resort on Feb. 26, 2016.
Sanderson said he was left with a traumatic brain injury, broken ribs and a loss of enjoyment of life — but lawyers for Paltrow say he’s lying.
The Oscar-winning actress countersued, alleging it was Sanderson who rammed into her and delivered a “full-body blow.”
The two will now face off in a Park City courtroom, with the trial kicking off Tuesday morning and expected to last eight days.
Sources close to Paltrow told The Post she will testify in her own defense, though it is unclear when she would take the stand.
Sanderson, who was 69 when Paltrow countersued in 2021, told his doctor a year before the accident he was blind in one eye, the actress claims. The retired eye doctor also “admits he does not remember what happened,” her lawyers wrote in the counterclaim.
“Ms. Paltrow remembers what happened very clearly. She was enjoying skiing with her family on vacation in Utah, when Plaintiff — who was uphill from Ms. Paltrow — plowed into her back . . . Ms. Paltrow was angry with Plaintiff, and said so. Plaintiff apologized,” the document states.
“Other than his vision problems, he had 15 other chronic medical issues,” her attorneys wrote.
Paltrow’s lawyers also claim the plaintiff ’s doctors conducted brain tests that didn’t show “any deficits in his cognitive functioning” following the accident.
Eight jurors and two alternates were selected for the Utah 3rd District Court jury last week.
A judge ruled Sanderson was not entitled to punitive damages, and he can only seek $300,000 in damages, not the $3.1 million he had hoped for.
Paltrow, 50, is seeking $1 in damages plus the cost of her legal fees “because her injuries were relatively minor,” according to court docs.
The doctor has said Paltrow was uncaring after she allegedly crashed into him, another claim of his that she denies.
“The undisputed facts do not support the assertion that Ms. Paltrow committed a hit-andrun,” her lawyers said, adding that even Sanderson’s ski expert “concluded that the evidence indicates that Defendant Paltrow’s post-collision actions were ‘reasonable under the circumstances’ ” and that she remained at the scene.
Her lawyers also said in court documents that despite Sanderson’s claims of being seriously injured, he has traveled internationally on multiple occasions since the accident.