Two witnesses took the stand Wednesday during the second day of the Gwyneth Paltrow civil trial stemming from a 2016 ski collision in Park City, Utah.
Neuropsychologist Dr. Sam Goldstein testified that Terry Sanderson, now 76, had an “acute change” in his behavior following the collision. Sanderson claimed that Paltrow left him with a “permanent traumatic brain injury” after she crashed into him from behind while skiing at the Deer Valley Resort. He is suing the Academy Award winner for $300,000.
“He has become obsessed with trying to return himself to the level of functioning he perceived he had before this accident,” Goldstein said.
During cross-examination, Paltrow’s lawyer, James Egan, said, “He felt like he was abandoned on the slope and he kind of obsessed about that,” to which Goldstein responded, “Correct.”
Gwyneth Paltrow attends the second day of her civil trial in Park City, Utah. (Rick Bowmer)
Goldstein said Terry’s problems were “more behavioral, emotional regulation.” He added, “From his view, he is not the person he was.”
Sanderson accused Paltrow of crashing into him while skiing at the exclusive Deer Valley Resort and then skiing off after the accident. The incident left him with a “permanent traumatic brain injury, 4 broken ribs, pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life,” along with emotional distress and disfigurement, according to the lawsuit obtained by Fox News Digital.
Goldstein, who specializes in executive function and the cognitive assessment system, said post-collision, “In this man’s case, his problems were more behavioral, emotional regulation.”
Following a series of face-to-face tests, Goldstein also recalled Sanderson being “quite stressed.” He reiterated that “in nowhere do I see his problem as a lack of effort.”
FIRST WITNESS IN GWYNETH PALTROW’S SKI COLLISION TRIAL STUMBLES OVER MEMORY OF INCIDENT
Egan also asked Goldstein to confirm that Sanderson “had a head injury when he was 10 years old,” which the neuropsychologist testified, “Yes.”
Earlier in the day, expert witness Dr. Wendell Gibby also testified that Sanderson’s personality changed after the collision.
Gwyneth Paltrow is expected to testify on Friday in the lawsuit stemming from a 2016 ski collision. (Rick Bowmer)
Dr. Samuel Goldstein, a neuropsychologist, testified about Sanderson’s brain trauma. (Rick Bowmer)
“Terry had been a very high-functioning, high-energy person,” Gibby said. “Every day he was doing lots of things. Meeting groups, wine tasting, skiing, volunteering.”
“But after his accident, he deteriorated abruptly, and many of the activities that he used to do, he stopped doing, like, for the most part. … He normally could, you know, handle multiple projects at once, but he would have to sit there and focus very hard on one task. He would go to a Home Depot, for example, and forget why he was there.”
“He also experienced a worsening of his depression, and so those are very typical hallmarks of someone who has had a traumatic injury,” he added.
The jury heard from Sanderson’s friend, Craig Ramon, and his ex-girlfriend, Karlene Davidson, on Tuesday. Ramon was skiing nearby and allegedly heard a scream just before the collision happened.
When Paltrow’s lawyer, Steve Owens, asked Ramon to recall parts of his deposition, Ramon had a difficult time answering “yes” or “no” questions about the incident. Owens recalled “300 pages” of transcript and a statement from Ramon, but Ramon couldn’t remember if Paltrow was wearing a helmet, hat or goggles on the day of the collision and also taking a photo with ski patrol following the accident.
“She just had a blank look on her face,” he recalled of the Marvel Cinematic Universe star after the crash, which left Sanderson briefly unconscious and requiring medical attention on the slopes in addition to an emergency room visit the following day.
Dr. Wendell Gibby testified in support of Terry Sanderson’s lawsuit that blames actor Gwyneth Paltrow for the crash. He said Sanderson’s head trauma was likely caused by a skier crashing into him. (Rick Bowmer)
Terry Sanderson arrives at court Tuesday, March 21, 2023, in Park City, Utah. The retired optometrist is suing actor Gwyneth Paltrow over a 2016 ski collision that took place at Deer Valley Resort. (Rick Bowmer)
Davidson was dating Sanderson at the time of the collision and said their relationship fell apart shortly after the incident. She described Terry as “fun-loving, joyful and very ambitious” with “a lot of energy.” Davidson “had a lot of trouble keeping up with him.”
On the day of the accident, she met Sanderson at home, and when he walked in, “he looked disheveled.” She remembered he was “very pale” and complained of pain in his ribs. “I think they determined a slight concussion at the clinic,” she said.
Davidson said “he started pushing me away” after the accident. “He had no joy left in his life,” she recalled. “Not knowing what he was dealing with, I thought it was relationship-status things, and so I blame a lot of it on that … and now looking back, I think there was a lot going on.”
The lawsuit also claimed that “Paltrow got up, turned and skied away, leaving Sanderson stunned, lying in the snow, seriously injured. A Deer Valley ski instructor, who had been training Ms. Paltrow, but who did not see the crash, skied over, saw the injured Sanderson and skied off, falsely accusing Sanderson of having caused the crash.”
Her defense claims Sanderson crashed into her. One of Paltrow’s ski instructors had reportedly asked Ramon if he knew “that your buddy just took out Gwyneth Paltrow.”
Paltrow’s lawyers are prepping for Paltrow to take the stand on Friday. In addition, Paltrow’s attorney said the jury will hear from her now-husband Brad Falchuk and her kids, Moses, 16, and Apple, 18.
Fox News Digital’s Lauryn Overhultz contributed to this report.
