Gwyneth Paltrow colliding with a person from behind on a ski slope and falling on high of him is the “solely state of affairs” that will clarify his accidents, a US court docket has been advised.
Terry Sanderson offered “a cushion” for the Oscar-winning actor throughout the incident on the Deer Valley resort in Utah in 2016, jurors heard.
The retired optometrist is suing Paltrow over the crash, during which he suffered a number of damaged ribs and a extreme concussion.
Paltrow denies the declare and is countersuing Sanderson, alleging he precipitated the collision.
Each are anticipated to supply testimony on the trial on Friday.
Jurors in Park Metropolis, Utah, heard testimony from Richard Boehne, who mentioned Sanderson’s accidents may solely have been brought on by being struck from behind.
“He was hit by somebody from the aspect and from behind, keep in mind that particular person landed on him. Individuals who fall do not get rib fractures… it takes one thing else,” he mentioned on Thursday.
“In case you had a alternative between Mr Sanderson hitting Ms Paltrow or Ms Paltrow hitting Mr Sanderson, you would need to choose Ms Paltrow hitting Mr Sanderson from behind and falling on high of him to account for the rib fractures.
“In case you have been to check two situations… there’s just one state of affairs that will account for sufficient drive software to fracture these ribs and that will be Ms Paltrow putting Mr Sanderson from behind and falling to the bottom.
“In essence he was like a cushion, if you’ll.”
Earlier, the court docket heard from Sanderson’s daughter, Polly Sanderson-Grasham, who mentioned her father had been a “fun-loving, gregarious” man earlier than the incident, in addition to an skilled skier.
However she mentioned seeing him at her personal daughter’s commencement three months after the crash had been like a “slap within the face”.
“I felt like, ‘wow’. There was a second once I virtually anticipated drool to come back out of his mouth,” she mentioned.
“He wasn’t engaged with anybody… that was my first slap within the face that one thing was terribly fallacious.”
She mentioned her father may not “see the forest for the timber” and acquired caught “within the trivialities” of issues.
“He is simply pissed off, he will get agitated, offended – I did not have reminiscence of him being an offended particular person however he is acquired a fairly quick fuse lately,” she mentioned.
Sanderson-Grasham later grew to become emotional, telling the court docket: “I hope that (my father) strikes on. I hope that we’re in a position to put this very unusual chapter behind us … We’ve plenty of therapeutic to do.”
Jurors additionally heard from neuropsychologist Alina Fong, who mentioned that when she first met Sanderson in 2017, he had offered “myriad” signs indicative of getting suffered a concussion.
Fong mentioned there was no proof “in anyway” that Sanderson was faking his accidents.
The protection is looking for damages of a minimal of $US300,000 ($A449,000), whereas Paltrow’s counterclaim is for $US1.
