CNN
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Thursday’s testimony in the trial of Gwyneth Paltrow’s 2016 skiing accident began with testimony from a clinical neuropsychologist who treated the actress’ plaintiff.
Alina K. to 76-year-old Terry Sanderson. Fang testified via videotape that she was skiing an opening run on a Utah mountain in February when Paltrow crashed into her, causing her lasting injuries and brain damage. 2016.
Fong said he first saw Sanderson in May 2017 and complained of “myriad symptoms,” including cognitive problems, fatigue, mood and personality changes, pain and headaches.
“By the time I saw him, he had been struggling with these concussion symptoms for almost a year and a half,” he testified.
Sanderson and Paltrow have been involved in a legal battle for seven years.
In court documents obtained by CNN, Sanderson said that while skiing at Deer Valley Resort, Paltrow “overstepped the curb … and hit him hard, knocking him out, causing a traumatic brain injury, four broken ribs and other serious injuries.”
Paltrow filed a countersuit against Sanderson, a retired optometrist, alleging he slipped into her.
According to Paltrow’s countersuit, she was “enjoying skiing with her family on vacation in Utah when the plaintiff — who was uphill from Ms. Paltrow — plowed into her back. She suffered a full ‘body blow.'” Ms. Paltrow became angry with the plaintiff, saying so. The plaintiff apologized. She was shocked and upset and stopped skiing for the day even though it was still morning.
During cross-examination, Paltrow’s attorney, James Egan, questioned Fang about whether Sanderson’s symptoms could have been caused by something other than the accident.
“Anything is possible but not impossible,” replied Fang.
Sanderson’s middle daughter, Polly Sanderson Grasham, 49, testified that before the crash, her father was a “go-getter.”
“I think people would describe him as fun-loving, very gregarious, definitely an extrovert,” she said. “(He) enjoyed people, dancing, outdoor activities.”
Testifying that she was emotional at times, Sanderson Grasham, who lives in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, said she noticed a change in her father’s “processing speed” a year and a half after the accident.
She once saw him sitting in a chair by the window at her house and said she “almost expected him to drool.”
“First of all, he’s not engaged to anyone,” she said. “He took himself to a remote corner. That was my first real room because something went horribly wrong.
Sanderson initially sued Paltrow for $3.1 million, but later amended her complaint and is seeking more than $300,000 in damages, according to court documents.
Paltrow is seeking $1 in damages and attorneys’ fees.
On Wednesday, Sanderson’s attorney said he expects to call Paltrow to the stand Friday.
