Image: (APA/AFP/POOL/RICK BOWMER)
Not they, but Terry Sanderson, who is suing them, caused the 2016 collision in the Rocky Mountains, Paltrow said on Friday (local time) before the court in Park City, Utah.
Retired optometrist Sanderson accuses Paltrow of ramming and seriously injuring him while he was skiing. She drove in a “dangerous” and “reckless” manner, inflicted “four broken ribs and permanent brain damage” on Sanderson and left him unconscious, plaintiff attorney Lawrence Buhler said at the start of the trial on Tuesday.
He estimated the damage caused in this way at 3.3 million dollars (3.07 million euros). Paltrow’s attorney, Steven Owens, said Sanderson was “obsessed” with the case and making “false allegations.”
Paltrow initially suspected sexual assault
Paltrow has filed a countersuit, demanding a nominal $1 from Sanderson and reimbursement of her attorney’s fees. On Friday she was given the opportunity to present her version of events to the court. “Mr. Sanderson definitely hit me on that ski slope and that’s the truth,” the 50-year-old said under cross-examination.
When Sanderson slipped between her skis from behind, she even thought of a sexual assault at first. “I was skiing and then two skis came in between my skis and pushed my legs apart and then a body was pushing against mine and there was a weird grunting sound,” Paltrow said. “I thought: is this some kind of joke? Is someone doing something perverted?”
Children should testify
The accident happened while Paltrow was vacationing with her now-husband Brad Falchuk and their two children from her marriage to Coldplay frontman Chris Martin. Falchuk and the children Apple and Moses are also said to testify in the process. Sanderson’s questioning is also pending.
Regarding Sanderson’s attorney’s allegation that she hit and run, Paltrow said her ski instructor told her she could ski because her daughter was waiting for her down the slope. The ski instructor “stayed and filled out the report and made sure that Mr. Sanderson is okay,” said the Oscar winner.
Paltrow also had an explanation for not later inquiring about Sanderson’s health: “I think you have to keep in mind that when you’re the victim of an accident, psychologically you don’t necessarily think about the person who caused it has.”
Source: Nachrichten
