Law&Crime Sidebar - 11 Critical Moments from Gwyneth Paltrow’s Testimony in Ski Crash Trial

Episode Date: March 27, 2023

Gwyneth Paltrow took the stand Friday and testified about the 2016 ski collision between her and the plaintiff, Terry Sanderson, at Deer Valley Resort in Utah. The famed actress gave her version of events, claiming Sanderson was at fault and crashed into her from behind before they fell to the ground together. Paltrow went on to explain various factors involving the collision that directly challenges the plaintiff’s allegations. The Law&Crime Network’s Jesse Weber breaks down 11 critical moments from Paltrow’s testimony in the ski crash trial.LAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokePodcasting - Sam GoldbergWriting & Video Editing - Michael DeiningerGuest Booking - Alyssa FisherSocial Media Management - Vanessa Bein & Kiera BronsonSUBSCRIBE TO OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Court JunkieObjectionsThey Walk Among AmericaCoptales and CocktailsThe Disturbing TruthSpeaking FreelyLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. Gwyneth Paltrow, you've seen her on the big screen, commercials, interviews, and the red carpet. Now you're about to see her in the witness box. We break down some of the major moments of her testimony in her ski crash trial. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber.

The ongoing trial between Gwyneth Paltrow and Terry Sanderson is one week in, and we have seen the testimony of the star witness, the star of the show, Gwyneth Paltrow. But before even break down her testimony, I want to get a little bit more into the background of this case. So Terry Sanderson claims that back in 2016, he was skiing at Deer Valley Rueh resort, as was Gwyneth Paltrow. Now, he says that Paltrow was skiing down bandana run. We believe this to be a beginner level snow slope that he was downhill. And that is very important, because as he correctly points out in his complaint, downhill skiers have the right of way.

Skiers that are uphill have to look out for the downhill skiers. Now, again, that's important because Sanderson claims that Paltrow was distracted, wasn't looking in front of her, and that's when she allegedly rammed into him. Now, Sanderson ended up filing a lawsuit against Gwyneth Paltrow. He's the plaintiff in this case. And he's claiming that he suffered severe injuries from this collision, such as four broken ribs and a concussion. And now he is suing for an excess of $300,000. Well, Poutro, on the other hand, has a completely different version of event because she claims that Sanderson ran into her. She is countersuing for just $1, a little bit of symbolic damages there. But she also wants to be reimbursed for her attorney's fees as well,

which can get quite costly. So this is a classic, who done it? This is a classic. He said, she said one word against another. This is a negligence case. The question, of course, is did either Paltrow or Sanderson fail to act as a reasonable person, a reasonable skier would have under those circumstances? Now, Paltrow was actually called as a witness by the plaintiff, Mr. Sanderson.

And this happens in several trials because a plaintiff, the person who's suing, they're trying to prove their case, and they sometimes call the defendant. in a lawsuit. Very different than in a criminal case where the prosecution can't call the defendant as a witness. The defendant has a constitutional right against self-incrimination, not quite the case in civil lawsuits. So Sanderson's attorney, Kristen Van Orman, questioned Paltrow. And here's her asking Paltrow about what exactly happened. What was the question? When Moses is saying, Mommy, Mommy, watch me. That's who you were looking at when you were direct, when you were, when you were skiing. directly into your back?

I do not recall Moses saying Mommy, Mommy, watch me on the ski slope. Okay. Well, Apple was down further, right? Yes. She didn't see it. No. Okay. And Moses, he was the one, at least according to

Carrie Oaks, was calling your attention. Okay. Okay. Nine-year-old, did he want more attention to have somebody watch them rather than 11? not necessarily okay Moses was skiing above you though right

he hadn't gotten down as far as you he was on my left and up I was on the right he was oops sorry he was on the left side of the slope yes I believe

kind of a little bit uphill okay and that's where your attention was when you were hit allegedly in the back? I don't know where my attention was the moment I was struck in the back. I'm sorry. Okay, well, that's what you said, which is what happened? He struck me in the back.

Yes, that's exactly what happened. Now, the point that Van Ormond, Sanderson's attorney is trying to make is that Palchro was distracted. She was distracted by her son Moses, that she wasn't looking in front of her, and that ultimately she crashed into Sanderson. Now, if the jury were to accept that, that would be problematic. for Ms. Paltrow. But as you can see, Ms. Paltrow is not giving into that. No, no, no.

She says, I was the downhill skier. Sanderson was the uphill skier, and he rammed into me. Let's take a listen. So the skis are coming. How far did the skis get in between your legs before you guys fell? His body pressed up into my back. Okay. So I froze.

I don't know exactly. how far the skis would have come through. Okay. Because then I noticed his body pressing against my back. Okay. And then it was probably a few good seconds, and then we fell to the right. Somebody must have caught an edge. Okay.

So when you guys are, when you froze and you're skiing together, I think you said at one point it was like you were spooning. Well, when we fell down, we fell. I fell on his body. He fell on the ground. And so it was kind of like a spoon. on the ground. So Paltrow's saying that Sanderson skied up behind her and that they crashed to the ground

together side by side and she is very adamant about that. Remember, Sanderson says the complete opposite. He says she crashed into him. We are going to hear his testimony later on in the trial. But multiple times throughout this trial, you're going to hear the name Eric Christensen. This is a name that you've already heard. Eric Christensen was the Deer Valley ski instructor that Paltrow had hired for her and her kids. and he just so happens to be a witness, maybe not necessarily of the actual crash, but what happened before and immediately after the crash.

One of the things that Sanderson's side has highlighted is how much money Paltrow paid Deer Valley instructors for these private lessons, including Mr. Christensen. I think the idea here as well, these employees like Mr. Christensen, have an incentive to testify favorably for Paltrow because they're getting paid so much. Anyway, Van Orman pressed Paltrow for not leaving her contact information with Sanderson after the crash, but Poutro claims she left it with Christensen. Did you know the rules at the time of the collision that if you're in a collision with someone, you need to give your name and information, contact information? So because I was hit by Mr. Sanderson and he was at fault, I assumed that Eric, who was our ski instructor, who was there at the time, who was overseeing the event, he said, I'm going to leave all of your information, and he said, you should go ski down because my kids were waiting for me.

And I appreciate that, but my question was, did you know of the rule of skiing if you are in a collision that you need to share that information? Your Honor, this is irrelevant. This is not a part of their negligence claim. Overruled. Overruled. Go ahead. Can you repeat the question? Absolutely. At the time of the collision, were you aware of the rule that if you're in a collision, you

need to share your name, your contact information with the person that you're involved in a collision with? I don't think I was aware of the rule. Okay. Were you aware that there is kind of a rule of common decency to do that? I would not have left the scene without leaving my information, and my information was left. Did you provide that information? No, Eric Christensen, who was the ski instructor with us, said he would leave all the information.

You don't know if he did or did not, though, do you? You weren't there when he did. Well, subsequently, I know that he did. And that was interesting because originally Sanderson sued under a claim of emotional distress. particularly that he was left out in the cold, injured, that neither Paltrow nor Christensen actually called for help. The judge dropped that claim. It was ruled that this was not a hit and run case, or maybe I should say a hit and ski off case. But the questioning about the incident did go on for quite some time, and it got very interesting when Paltrow thought for a second

that she was being sexually assaulted. You're going down relatively slowly, when all of a sudden you heard a strange rustling noise behind you. Yes. Okay. And you felt like a rush of air in a strange way. Yes. Okay. And two skis slid in between my skis.

That's correct. And all of a sudden there was a body from the whole front of a body pressing into my back. That's right. Okay. Like, we'll talk about this in a minute. And there was a man behind me, pressing into me. How did you know it was a man? Because he was making some strange noises that sounded male and he was large. So I assumed it was a male. Okay. He was large? I felt all my back

pressing. Okay. Okay. All right. There was a man pressing behind me pressing into me. I was extremely upset? Well, I was confused at first, and I didn't know exactly what was happening. It's a very strange thing to happen on the ski slope. I agree. And I froze, and I would say I got very upset a couple seconds later. Okay. Let me just continue on here. I just want to make sure that I got this all right. I didn't know if it was an intentional. assault of a sexual nature. Right. Okay. Was he grinding and thrusting or something or just the noises?

What made you think it was a sexual assault? So that was a quick thought that went through my head when I was trying to reconcile what was happening. I was skiing and two skis came between my skis, forcing my legs apart, and then there was a body pressing against me, and there was a very strange, great. grunting noise. So my brain was trying to make sense of what was happening. I thought, am I, is this a practical joke? Is someone like doing something perverted? This is really, really strange. My mind was going very, very quickly, and I was trying to ascertain what was

happening. Okay. I think you said, I didn't know if it was an accident, but he was groaning and grunting in a very disturbing way. Yes, there was a sort of groan coming out of his mouth. Okay. Then you said, I froze. Yes. We kept skiing. Right. We went to the right. Yes.

We came crashing down together. That's right. To be clear, Paltrow is not saying Sanderson sexually assaulted her, but that for a split second, that thought did go through her mind as she claims that Sanderson skied up right behind her. It's a very unique and descriptive way of explaining what happened. You know, one could look at that and say, this is so specific, this is so detailed. Maybe this really did happen, as Paltrow called. claimed. How could someone make that up? The other way of looking at it is this is such an odd way of describing what happened is Paltrow embellishing the encounter to make it look like

she was the victim when maybe she wasn't. I will tell you what is clear is that Poutre became very upset after the crash and had choice words with Sanderson. So you're down on the ground and then you started yelling at him. I don't remember if I started. yelling at him while I was on the ground. I remember pushing away because I was very upset and it was still very strange to me what had happened. And I pushed down the hill and I turned around and I said and I yelled at him. Okay. Did you scream before you went down? I don't think so. Okay. So if others heard a scream, you would.

wouldn't, that wasn't you? No, I froze. When he slid between my skis, I absolutely froze. And I don't remember yelling or screaming until I was very angry at what had happened. Okay. And so you guys are on the ground. And then you said to him, I think you don't know if you were up or if you were still on the ground, but he was still on the ground, right? Yes. When you said, what are you doing? Yes. Okay. Like, why did you do that. Yes. And he said, I think you skied into me. Yes. And that's when you were furious and said, you ski directly into my effing back at the top of your lungs. Yes, I did. Okay. I apologize for my bad language. And, well, in fact, you were screaming that so hard. You were worried that Moses was hearing

you. Yes. Okay. And after you were screaming to him, isn't that when Mr. Sanderson said, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. He said, I said, you skied directly into my effing back, and he said, oh, sorry, sorry, I'm sorry. Right. And that was you screaming at him while he's on the ground still, right? I was yelling at him. Pretty loud, pretty forceful. I was pretty upset.

Right? You're small but mighty. Actually, you're not that small. So when he said, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, would you agree that he kind of mumbled it? Yes. And Paltrow would go on to testify that she believes it is unfair that Sanderson brought this case against her, and she feels wrong that she was only able to ski half the day when she paid for a full day skiing. Now, there was another notable moment, and that is when Van Orman steps towards the stand to somewhat act out the ski craft.

And that kind of brings me to what we've been seeing a little bit online and on TV. A lot of people commenting about how this attorney was questioning Paltrow. Some accused Van Ormond of fangirling that she was starstruck with Paltrow. Take a listen. So since you're not down here, may I ask how tall you are? I'm just under 5.10. Okay. I am so jealous.

I think I'm shrinking, though. You and me both. I have to wear four-inch heels just to make it to five-five. They're very nice. Well, thank you. Yeah, she had these somewhat awkward exchanges with Gwyneth Paltrow. From my legal point of view, I think that this is just an attorney who wanted to come off as relatable, develop a rapport with Gwyneth Paltrow, try to have Paltrow loosen up a bit so maybe that

she would slip up in an answer. It's a common tactic. I will say Van Orman does bring up the fact that Paltrow is countersuing for $1. And when she did that, another notable moment. is that she kind of compares this to, of all people, Grammy award-winning musician Taylor Swift. And you're bringing this claim for $1. I am.

Okay. In fact, your counsel, Steve, do you still have that dollar bill? That you... I'm not going to respond to that. You, you... Nah, I don't need it.

Sure. Yeah, I don't need it. You saw Mr. Owens wave that $1 around, right? I did. Okay. $1 in symbolic damages. Is that accurate? It's an actual dollar that I'm asking for.

But you also have testified when I asked you questions in your deposition that that $1 is symbolic. Do you remember me asking you about that? It's symbolic because the damages would actually be more. Okay. But remember me asking you, is it symbolic? And you said, yes, it is. Yes.

Okay. And I asked you as well, well, you learned about that through Taylor Swift, because she asked for $1 in symbolic damages, right? And I think I said at that point I had not been familiar with it, but I since am. Now you are. But at the time, a couple years ago in 2020, you didn't know anything about Taylor Swift's $1 symbolic damage lawsuit? Just relevance, Your Honor? Counsel?

Because I asked her about it at the time, and she denied it. Correct. Can you answer the question? I was not aware. At the time. Are you good friends with Taylor Swift? No. Overruled?

You're not good friends with Taylor Swift? I would not say we're good friends. We are friendly. I take my kids. I've taken my kids to one of her concerts before, but we don't talk very often. Van Orman brought up Taylor Swift because she had a lawsuit back in 2017 where she was also seeking $1. Paltrow's team objected to this. And that was the end of the Taylor Swift conversation.

Well, certainly Terry Sanderson's lawyer questioning Gwyneth Paltrow in this ski crash suit was interesting to say to least. But now let's see what happened when Paltrow's own attorney, Stephen Owens, had an opportunity to question his client. And he starts off by asking once again, who hit who? You've been here every minute of this jury trial. True? True. And you're intending to be here every minute next week? I am.

Have you enjoyed yourself? I've learned a lot. Who hit who? Mr. Sanderson hit me. The comment was that Mr. Sanderson doesn't take criticism well. Do you take criticism well? In my profession, after all these years of being in the public, I think I take it relatively well.

You keep sending me notes. I didn't cause these damages. That's absolutely correct. Do you feel some empathy for Mr. Sanderson and this declining brain? You know, I really do. I feel very sorry for him. seems like he's had a very difficult life, but I did not cause the accident, so I cannot be at

fault for anything that subsequently happened to him. So his daughter got up and said he was cursing out her daughter. Did you hear that? I did hear that. Did you cause that? Did you give him brain injuries that were evident on his MRI in 2006? I did not. So she once again, doubles down on that she is the victim, that Sanderson hit her, and that while she feels bad for Sanderson, whatever medical issues he has, it was not caused by her ramming into him, which is important because, not to make a pun here, but Paltrow, you could argue, is fighting an uphill battle in a way. She's testifying at a point where so far everything the jury has heard has been from Sanderson's side, from an eyewitness to family, the medical experts, all of the show that

he was the one who was hit, his injuries were severe, and that they were caused not only by the crash, but him being hit by Paltrow. So it's now Paltrow giving a completely different version of events than the jury has heard so far. But to support Paltrow's claim, Owens brings out text message conversations that Paltrow had back in 2016 before any lawsuit is filed. All right, so it's 229, and this is, no one's thinking lawsuit yet, right? No. And that's you on the left with the G.

and it says can you read it it says I came in that guy sort of hurt me I'm going to get a massage at three Gigi is here if he wants to come okay Gigi was helping with the kids yeah Gigi was our babysitter all right did you go in earlier because you had been hit I did yes did you personally pay for a ski pass that Valley? I did. And was it a full day pass? It was. And was it, uh, is this monetary difference between the full day pass and the half day pass more than one dollar? It is. It is. Ms. Van Orman kept saying when you were allegedly hit, were you hit? I was hit. Okay. So the fact that she said he hit her,

all the way back into 2016, unless she was deliberately trying to cover up what she did in text messages immediately, I mean, that doesn't look great for Sanderson. And she talks about what she suffered as a result of this crash and that Craig Ramon, the man that Sanderson said is the only eyewitness to the actual collision, that he's not credible.

By the way, Sanderson is a problematic plaintiff too because if he claims that he was knocked out and suffered a concussion, how accurate is his recollection? How accurate will his testimony be? Well, Gwyneth Poutreau made the point that her memory is very sharp. You know what occurred, right? I absolutely do. I was there.

When they say, did anyone witness this? And Mr. Sanderson doesn't really remember things. You remember things, don't you? I do. Sustained? Were you knocked out? I was not knocked out, no. Do you have memory loss of the event?

I do not. I mean, it was a long time ago, but... That's fair. And then going back to Mr. Christensen, who is the ski instructor, while he laid out a report about what happened. This is Christensen's report. Yes. It says a male skier took her out from behind.

Is that what happened? Yes. This report is accurate? Very. I didn't see it, but heard her scream as she went down. Do you dispute that? I don't. I ski directly to her.

Did he do that? He did, yes. The man was behind her. Both were in discomfort. Is that all true? Yes. During lunch, she talked of being stiff and sore. Is that a true statement?

It is. And we know that Christensen is going to take the stand, and probably support Paltrow's claim. What I should tell you is that we believe that this is not the end of Paltrow's time on the witness box. We believe she's going to be called by her side when they present their case. But I think next up is going to be another major witness, Terry Sanderson, the plaintiff himself. this long crime series, ad-free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.