Gwyneth Paltrow ski collision trial set for family testimony
PARK CITY, Utah, March 23, (AP): Two daughters of a retired optometrist suing Gwyneth Paltrow are expected to testify on Thursday about the lasting effects of their father and Paltrow’s 2016 ski collision as the trial takes on an increasingly personal note on the third day of proceedings.
Attorneys are expected to call Polly Grasham and Shae Herath to the stand and question them about the broken ribs and lasting brain damage that their father Terry Sanderson claims he sustained after he and Paltrow crashed at one of North America’s most upscale ski resorts seven years ago.
Neurologist Richard Boehme and Paltrow herself could also be called to testify on either Thursday or Friday.
Sanderson is suing Paltrow for $300,000, claiming she recklessly crashed into him while the two were skiing on a beginner run at Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah. In a counterclaim, Paltrow is seeking $1 and attorney fees. The amount of money at stake for both sides pales in comparison to the typical legal costs of a multiyear lawsuit and expert witness-heavy trial.
During the first two days of trial, Sanderson’s attorneys and expert medical witnesses have described how injuries were likely caused by someone crashing into him from behind. They attributed noticeable changes in Sanderson’s mental acuity to that day’s injuries.
Paltrow’s attorneys have worked to paint Sanderson as a 76-year-old whose decline followed a normal course of aging rather than resulted from crashing into their celebrity client. They have not yet called witnesses of their own to testify, but in opening statements previewed for jurors that they plan to call Paltrow’s husband Brad Falchuk and her two children, Moses and Apple.
Recorded
They have thus far attempted to poke holes in testimony from Sanderson’s team of experts and are expected to question his two daughters about their father mentioning Paltrow’s fame and an email alluding to footage recorded on a Go Pro camera that hasn’t been found or included in evidence. Her team has previously accused Sanderson of suing to exploit Paltrow’s wealth and celebrity. She is the Oscarwinning star of “Shakespeare in Love” and founder-CEO of the beauty and wellness company Goop.
California prosecutors on Wednesday dropped domestic violence charges against Justin Roiland, who created the Cartoon Network animated series “Rick and Morty” and provided the voices of the show’s two title characters.
Orange County district attorney’s spokeswoman Kimberly Edds said the two felony counts involving a former girlfriend were dropped “due to a lack of sufficient evidence beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Roiland responded to the dismissal on Twitter.
“I have always known that these claims were false - and I never had any doubt that this day would come,” he said. “I’m thankful that this case has been dismissed but, at the same time, I’m still deeply shaken by the horrible lies that were reported about me during this process.”
He added that he is “disappointed that so many people were so quick to judge without knowing the facts, based solely on the word of a bitter ex trying to bypass due process and have me ‘canceled.’”
Roiland, 43, had been awaiting trial on charges of corporal injury and false imprisonment by menace, fraud, violence or deceit against the woman, who he was living with at the time. She was not identified in court documents.
The charges dated to May of 2020, but they apparently went unnoticed by media outlets until NBC News reported on them in January of this year.
Roiland and Dan Harmon created the animated sci-fi sitcom about a mad scientist and his grandson, both voiced by Roiland. It has aired for six seasons on Cartoon Network as part of its Adult Swim nighttime programming block, and it has been renewed for a seventh.
Adult Swim and Cartoon Network cut ties with him when the charges were reported and said his roles would be recast. 20th TV Animation and Hulu Originals, which produce two other animated series Roiland worked on, did the same.