1 of 2 Gwyneth Paltrow at Thursday’s (30) court session that acquitted her of the skiing accident charges — Photo: POOL / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP Gwyneth Paltrow at Thursday’s (30) court session exonerated her of the skiing accident charge — Photo: POOL / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP
US actress Gwyneth Paltrow was acquitted on Thursday (30th) in a US trial in which she was accused of having caused a skiing accident.
She faced a lawsuit for damages from a retired optometrist who was injured in the accident seven years earlier.
The lawyer said the damage from his client, optometrist Terry Sanderson’s accident, was estimated at $3.3 million (Real 17.3 million).
He claimed Paltrow skied “dangerously” and “recklessly” and inflicted “four broken ribs and permanent brain damage” on his client.
The jury found her not guilty on all charges. She won US$1 (R$5), a token amount she asked for in the lawsuit she filed in response to Terry Sanderson.
2 of 2 Gwyneth Paltrow during court session in a lawsuit alleging she caused a skiing accident — Photo: Rick Bowmer/Portal Gwyneth Paltrow during court session in lawsuit alleging she caused a skiing accident — Photo : Rick Bowmer/Portal
allegations and responses
But the actress, who won an Oscar for Shakespeare in Love in 1999, has denied the allegations.
Steven Owens, the Hollywood star’s attorney, told the Park City, Utah court that Sanderson was “obsessed” with the lawsuit and that the case was a “baseless allegation.”
The accident happened in February 2016 at Deer Valley, a luxury ski hotel complex above touristy Park City in Utah’s Rocky Mountains.
Deer Valley hosted skiing events during the 2002 Winter Olympics, while Park City hosts the annual Sundance independent film festival.
The optometrist claims Paltrow slithered toward him and then fled, leaving him unconscious in the snow.
Owens explained that “Gwyneth is a conservative skier” who “didn’t accelerate,” adding that she initially feared “she would be attacked” when Sanderson appeared right behind her. “It bothered her physically and hurt her,” he said.
Owens also stated that Sanderson was “blind in one eye” and suffering from “loss of vision” in the other, suggesting poor vision could be the cause of the accident.