Jury has reached a verdict

A jury reached a verdict Thursday in the Gwyneth Paltrow lawsuit, where the actor stands accused of causing a 2016 ski accident that left a Utah man with broken ribs, a concussion and traumatic brain injury.

Terry Sanderson, a retired optometrist, alleges that Paltrow ran into him from behind on Feb. 26, 2016, while they were skiing at Utah’s Deer Valley Resort. The jury was handed the case earlier Thursday afternoon, after both parties made their closing arguments.

Sanderson is seeking $300,000 from Paltrow, alleging that her reckless skiing left him with lasting brain trauma that has negatively impacted his life.

Sanderson testified that he heard a “blood-curdling scream” before getting hit in the back.

“I got hit in my back so hard, right at my shoulder blades and it felt like it was perfectly centered,” Sanderson told the court. “And the fists and the poles were right there at my shoulder blades … never been hit that hard. And I’m flying, I’m absolutely flying.”

Everything went “black” after Sanderson hit the snow, he said, and the next thing he could remember was being yelled at by a man while he was on the ground.

Paltrow denies that she ran into Sanderson, and her attorneys accused him of exploiting Paltrow’s wealth and fame. She testified that she was on the slope with her family when Sanderson’s skis came between hers and they fell.

“Mr. Sanderson categorically hit me on the ski slope, and that is the truth,” Paltrow told the court.

Paltrow’s attorneys also argued that Sanderson’s health troubles began before the accident, including impaired vision in his right eye.

Paltrow is seeking $1 in damages and the reimbursement of attorney’s fees.

Along with different accusations of fault, the actor and Sanderson both dispute who was farther up the hill at the time of the crash. Deer Valley’s website says the person ahead or downhill has the right of way. 

The jury was instructed to decide whether someone was harmed in the accident and who was at fault. Their instructions also had definitions from Summit County’s ordinances of skiing safety regarding reckless skiing and the skier’s duty to an injured party after a collision.

“I have already determined that Gwyneth Paltrow did not leave the scene of the accident without giving her contact information,” the judge’s instructions read.

The only person who says they witnessed the crash is Sanderson’s acquaintance, Craig Ramon, who was at the resort with him as part of a meetup group’s ski day. Ramon says he was roughly 35 feet uphill from Sanderson at the time of the crash and says he saw Paltrow “slam” into Sanderson.

Paltrow hit Sanderson “hard” and bounced off him, landing a few feet downhill to Sanderson’s right, Ramon said.

Ramon alleged that Sanderson was facedown in the snow for a few minutes and clearly disoriented. He also said that Paltrow did not speak to him or identify herself after the accident, leaving about four minutes later when Sanderson was still on the ground.

Paltrow denied Ramon’s accusations that she left the scene of the accident before Sanderson told the group that he was fine. She said she remained at the scene until a ski instructor who had been working with one of her children told her she could go.

The instructor filled out a report documenting the incident, Paltrow said, and made sure that Sanderson was OK.