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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Andrea Blanco and Io Dodds

Gwyneth Paltrow verdict – live: Goop mogul wins $1 damages as she whispers final message to ski crash accuser

AP

Shae Sanderson accuses Gwyneth Paltrow of ‘ignoring’ her father in mountain ski crash

Jurors in Gwyneth Paltrow’s bombshell trial found she was not at fault for a 2016 ski collision.

The case dragged on for years after retired optometrist Terry Sanderson, 76, raised the allegations against Ms Paltrow in a 2019 lawsuit. Mr Sanderson claimed the Hollywood star crashed into him on the slopes at the luxury Deer Valley Resort near Park City, Utah, back on 26 February 2016.

On Thursday, jurors returned a verdict in favour of Ms Paltrow after just over two hours of deliberation, effectively awarding Ms Paltrow a symbolic $1. They found that Mr Sanderson, who was seeking $300,000 in damages, was 100% at fault for the ski accident.

Mr Sanderson had alleged in court that the collision left him with a permanent traumatic brain injury that robbed him of “his enjoyment for life.”

During closing arguments on Thursday, Mr Sanderson’s attorney Lawrence Buhler argued that for 16 hours every day, Mr Sanderson is forced to live with the consequences of his brain injury.

Mr Bhuler randomly suggested that jurors considered granting his client $33 per every hour he’s suffered from cognitive decline since the accident seven years ago, and for the ten years he is estimated to live.

Meanwhile, defence attorney Steven Owens told the court that his client was a “punching bag” for Mr Sanderson and his family throughout the proceedings.

“He hurt her and then he asked $3m for the pleasure of it,” Mr Owens said.

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