Gwyneth Paltrow’s defense team plays animation video in court to recreate her version of 2016 ski crash
PARK CITY, UTAH: Gwyneth Paltrow's defense team recreated her version of the 2016 ski crash by playing a animation video in the court on day five of the trial. On Monday, March 27, the animation video was played at the court in Park City, Utah while witness Eric Christiansen testified to his recollection of the crash.
Christiansen whom Paltrow hired to ski along with her son Moses, 16, during their ski trip in February 2016 is a Deer Valley Resort ski instructor. The witness was among the first to arrive on the scene after the crash. Identifying the figure in black in the animated video as Paltrow and the figure in blue as the retired optometrist Terry Sanderson, the ski instructor's point of view of the moments before the collision showed him viewing them skiing on the right side of the mountain, reported People.
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Will the animations be considered evidence?
During the trial, Judge Kent T Holmberg made a clarification to the jury that the animated videos of the ski crash played in the court are to illustrate the ski instructor's testimony and his point of view of the collision as a witness and it will not be considered evidence.
Attorneys for @GwynethPaltrow played reconstructive animation of the ski crash she’s being sued for in court Monday. The animation was used to help the jury understand what allegedly happened, using the video and testimony from Paltrow’s ski instructor Eric Christiansen. pic.twitter.com/04kCh97qLe
— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) March 27, 2023
Christiansen's version of the events contradicted the recollection of the incident by eyewitness Craig Ramon who said that he was the first person to be at the scene after the collision. However, the ski instructor stated that after hearing a scream, he responded first to the collision where he found Sanderson and Paltrow on the ground on the slope's right side. He claimed that Ramon was not on the collision scene for "at least 45 seconds."
"Ms Paltrow was already up on her feet, we were getting Mr Sanderson up on his feet," he said Monday. "He was very late to the scene. I would just assume that he was not as fast a skier as Mr Sanderson was," he told the court.
Sanderson explains 'I'm famous' mail sent to daughters
The trial on day five also included Sanderson's testimony where he explained the reason behind an email with the subject line "I'm famous..." sent to his daughters in the hours following the incident. "Again, my head was scrambled, [but] all I was trying to do was desperately communicate with my kids before they heard from somebody else [that] I got crushed," and added, "I didn't pick my words well, not at all how I felt, and I was really trying to add a little levity to a serious situation and it backfired," he added.
Sanderson claimed that the collision left him with a traumatic brain injury and broken ribs and said that he was left with a loss of enjoyment of life. However, the actresses' lawyers accused the retired optometrist of 'lying.' Paltrow then countersued him in 2021 after alleging that Sanderson delivered a "full-body blow" after the 76-year-old man rammed her, according to New York Post.