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Doctors Expected to Testify in Gwyneth Paltrow’s Ski Trial

Actor Gwyneth Paltrow looks on as she sits in the courtroom on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, in Park City, Utah. (AP)
Actor Gwyneth Paltrow looks on as she sits in the courtroom on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, in Park City, Utah. (AP)
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Doctors Expected to Testify in Gwyneth Paltrow’s Ski Trial

Actor Gwyneth Paltrow looks on as she sits in the courtroom on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, in Park City, Utah. (AP)
Actor Gwyneth Paltrow looks on as she sits in the courtroom on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, in Park City, Utah. (AP)

More witnesses are expected to testify on Wednesday in a trial about a 2016 ski crash between Gwyneth Paltrow and the retired Utah man suing her and claiming her recklessness left him with lasting injuries and brain damage.

On the opening day of the trial, Paltrow and retired optometrist Terry Sanderson appeared across the courtroom from each other, looking nonplussed to hear arguments that have become familiar over the past seven years of legal proceedings.

Since Paltrow and Sanderson’s skis intertwined on what they expected to be an enjoyable day on the slopes with friends and family, the two have been tangled in a lengthy legal drama about what really happened on a beginner’s run that day at one of the most upscale ski destinations in the United States.

The mountain, Deer Valley Resort, has among the region’s most expensive lift tickets and is known for its après-ski champagne yurts and proximity to Park City — a posh resort town known for hosting the Sundance Film Festival.

Though the court is not publishing a witness list, attorneys said Wendell Gibby and Sam Goldstein — a radiologist and neuropsychologist — would likely be called to testify on Wednesday. Sanderson’s lawyers said they expected to call four witnesses total on Wednesday and left the possibility open that one could be Paltrow, depending on when others expected to testify arrive in Park City.

Gibby and Goldstein have previously appeared as expert witnesses for Sanderson, who has said he broke ribs and sustained brain damage from the crash. Thus far, attorneys have argued over whether Sanderson’s medical problems stemmed from the crash or were merely a byproduct of aging.

Both parties blame the other for the collision and claim they were crashed into from behind, relying on a little-known Utah law stipulating that whoever is downhill has the right of way when skiing and snowboarding.

Paltrow's attorney have asked Judge Kent Holmberg to enact special restrictions throughout the actor-turned-wellness tycoon's trial, while she has used a blue notebook to shield her face from view when entering and exiting the courtroom.

They called Sanderson's story “utter B.S.” building off earlier claims from court filings and previous depositions where they accused him of suing to exploit the Oscar-winning star of “Shakespeare in Love's” wealth and celebrity.

Sanderson's attorneys have thus far attempted to paint her as a negligent celebrity with little care for the injuries inflicted upon the 76-year-old military veteran.

They called Sanderson's ex-girlfriend and a ski companion who was nearby during the crash to testify on Tuesday. Karlene Davidson said the crash had “changed” Sanderson and contributed to the demise of their romance.

Craig Ramon testified that Paltrow hit Sanderson and said that afterward, one of her family's ski instructors came up to him and said: “Your buddy just took out Gwyneth Paltrow.”

The trial underway in Park City is the latest development in the seven-year case and follows Sanderson's decision to amend an earlier lawsuit after a $3.1 million complaint that named Paltrow and Deer Valley was dismissed.

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Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt Reach Divorce Settlement after 8 Years

(FILES) Writer-director-producer-actress Angelina Jolie Pitt (L) and actor-producer Brad Pitt arrive for the opening night gala premiere of Universal Pictures' "By the Sea" during AFI FEST 2015 presented by Audi at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California, on November 5, 2015. (Photo by MARK RALSTON / AFP)
(FILES) Writer-director-producer-actress Angelina Jolie Pitt (L) and actor-producer Brad Pitt arrive for the opening night gala premiere of Universal Pictures' "By the Sea" during AFI FEST 2015 presented by Audi at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California, on November 5, 2015. (Photo by MARK RALSTON / AFP)
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Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt Reach Divorce Settlement after 8 Years

(FILES) Writer-director-producer-actress Angelina Jolie Pitt (L) and actor-producer Brad Pitt arrive for the opening night gala premiere of Universal Pictures' "By the Sea" during AFI FEST 2015 presented by Audi at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California, on November 5, 2015. (Photo by MARK RALSTON / AFP)
(FILES) Writer-director-producer-actress Angelina Jolie Pitt (L) and actor-producer Brad Pitt arrive for the opening night gala premiere of Universal Pictures' "By the Sea" during AFI FEST 2015 presented by Audi at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California, on November 5, 2015. (Photo by MARK RALSTON / AFP)

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have reached a divorce settlement, her lawyer said Monday, bringing an apparent end to one of the longest and most contentious divorces in Hollywood history.
Jolie's attorney James Simon confirmed to The Associated Press that the couple had come to a deal. News of the settlement was first reported by People magazine.
“More than eight years ago, Angelina filed for divorce from Mr. Pitt,” Simon said in a statement. “She and the children left all of the properties they had shared with Mr. Pitt, and since that time she has focused on finding peace and healing for their family. This is just one part of a long ongoing process that started eight years ago. Frankly, Angelina is exhausted, but she is relieved this one part is over.”
No court documents have been filed yet, and a judge will need to sign off on the agreement. An email late Monday night to Pitt's attorney seeking comment was not immediately answered.
Jolie, 49, and Pitt, 61, were among Hollywood’s most prominent pairings for 12 years, two of them as a married couple. The Oscar winners have six children together.
Jolie filed for divorce in 2016, after a private jet flight from Europe during which she said Pitt was abusive toward her and their children. The FBI and the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services investigated Pitt's actions on the flight and deemed no action needed to be taken against him.
A judge in 2019 declared them divorced and single, but the splitting of assets and child custody needed to be separately settled.
Soon after, a private judge that the two had hired to handle the case reached a decision that included equal custody of their children, but Jolie filed to have him removed from the case over an unreported conflict of interest. An appeals court agreed, the judge was removed, and the couple had to start the process over.
During the long divorce fight, four of the couple's six children became adults, negating the need for a custody agreement for them. The only two that remain minors are 16-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne. In June, one of their daughters, then known as Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, successfully petitioned to remove Pitt's name from hers.
Their other children are 23-year-old Maddox, 21-year-old Pax and 19-year-old Zahara.
No details of the agreement were immediately revealed, and the couple's use of the private judge — an increasingly common move among splitting celebrities in recent years — has kept the proceedings largely under wraps. There have been no official court actions in the case in nearly a year, and no indication that the two had been nearing an agreement.
Some details on their disputes, however, have been revealed through a separate lawsuit filed by Pitt in which he alleged Jolie reneged on an agreement that she would sell him her half of a French winery the two owned together. Jolie instead sold her part of the winery, Chateau Miraval, to the Tenute del Mondo wine group, a subsidiary of the Stoli Group., which Pitt said was a “vindictive” move that ruined a private space that had been a second home.
Jolie's attorneys said the winery sale agreement broke down over Pitt's demand that as part of the deal she sign a wide-ranging non-disclosure agreement about him. In court documents, she called that an attempt to cover up his physical abuse of her, which she said turned toward the children on the 2016 flight.
Along with the federal and L.A. County officials, the initial judge in the case heard testimony on the allegations before deciding to give Pitt equal custody of the children.
It's not clear how the divorce agreement will affect the winery lawsuit.
Publicly, both Pitt and Jolie have been extremely tight-lipped on everything surrounding their split, despite robust promotional tours and many media appearances for various projects.
Pitt said in a 2017 interview with GQ that he had had a drinking problem at the time of the plane incident and the split, but had since become sober and was going to therapy. He has not defended his behavior on the family flight.
Jolie has also declined to make any public statements about the family issues or the divorce, though she has sought a broader examination and airing of his behavior by the courts in both the divorce and winery cases.