Summary

  • Ski instructor Eric Christiansen is now being cross-examined by Gwyneth Paltrow's lawyer after giving evidence earlier in the trial

  • Earlier, Terry Sanderson, 76, who accuses Gwyneth Paltrow of causing a ski collision with him, said he remembered a "blood-curdling scream" just before being hit

  • He was answering questions from his attorneys about his post-concussion symptoms before being cross-examined

  • The family of the Hollywood actress are due to give evidence in the case sparked by an accident at an upmarket resort in Utah in 2016

  • The court expects to hear from Paltrow's daughter Apple, son Moses, husband Brad Falchuk as well as two ski instructors

  • Sanderson is seeking $300,000 (£245,000) in damages for the incident that took place on a beginners' slope at the Deer Valley resort

  • Oscar winner Paltrow, 50, denies she was responsible and has countersued - seeking $1 in damages, plus legal fees

  • You can watch live by clicking on the Play button above

  1. Are you getting your facts straight?published at 20:31 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2023

    Stephen Owens comments on Terry Sanderson's "unhappy marriages" which ended in divorce.

    Shae Herath agreed it was unhappy, but takes issue with the way Owens asked the question.

    She says she didn't know of an occasion when police were called over the second marriage, when asked by Owens

    "Are you getting your facts straight?" Shae quips back to Paltrow's attorney.

  2. My father did not say he was OK, says Herathpublished at 20:30 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2023

    Herath is asked if, following the call with her dad on the day of the accident, whether she believed there was GoPro footage of the incident - she says yes.

    The exchange took place initially over the phone and then via email about six hours after the collision.

    Paltrow's lawyer puts it to Herath that she was glad to learn there was footage, and she told her father, she was happy he was OK.

    She said her father did not say he was OK.

    "He said: 'I really had my bell rung, I can't think straight and it hurts when I breathe - I get a stabbing sensation in my ribs', she told the lawyer.

  3. Questions about an alleged business disputepublished at 20:26 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2023

    Gwyneth Paltrow's lawyer, Stephen Owens, moves on to questions about disputes Terry Sanderson allegedly had with his former partner in their optometry business before the accident which is at the centre of this trial in Utah.

    He asks Shae Herath if she remembers whether her father got into an argument with the partner, to which she says: "No I didn't know that for sure".

    Asked what she did know about a business dispute, Herath tells Owens she only knew her father was having troubles with his former partner, not that it was a business dispute specifically.

  4. Lawyer asks about Sanderson being abusive before crashpublished at 20:16 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2023

    Herath is now asked how old she was when she moved out of home, to which she answers she was 18.

    Paltrow's lawyer then asks about her relationship with her younger sister Jenny, who was just nine-years-old when she left.

    He then paints a picture of a breakdown in their parents' marriage in the latter years after Herath had left for university - which her sister experienced, but she did not.

    The lawyer moves on to ask a series of questions about her sister's testimony that Terry Sanderson was verbally and physically abusive to her before the accident.

    Herath's answers that she is not able to speak to her sister's experience, while also saying she had never seen or experience him being abusive.

    Shae HerathImage source, Reuters
  5. 'Did your dad ever punch a man in the face?'published at 20:10 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2023

    Paltrow's lawyer asks Shae Herath whether her father "literally punched a man in the face".

    She says that it never happened, leading the lawyer to ask why her sister had said he had.

    "She may have gotten wrong information," she said.

    The lawyer responds: "Your dad thought someone was having an affair with your mother, and went and punched him in the face."

    Herath says she has never heard of the alleged incident before.

  6. Was Terry Sanderson an attention seeker before the accident?published at 20:08 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2023

    Paltrow's attorney Stephen Owens continues to question Shae -with questions about whether she was Facebook friends with her father.

    She is shown an old Facebook post by Terry Sanderson which says his family coat of arms is a straitjacket.

    Asked if she accepted this was known to be his sense of humour, Shae says her father had "multiple" senses of humour.

    Owens asks: "Do you accept he was an attention seeker before this accident?"

    "Sometimes", she says.

  7. 'Wet blanket' lawyer begins cross-examination of Shae Herathpublished at 20:02 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2023

    Shae Herath is now being cross examined by Gwyneth Paltrow's lawyer, who begins by asking Terry Sanderson's daughter if she agrees he had mental health problems before the collision.

    "I do not know that," she answers.

    They then share a series of exchanges where Paltrow's lawyer attempts to get Herath to agree that her father was deteriorating in his mental health before the crash,

    He goes on to describe himself as a "wet blanket" revealing truths about her family and her father being difficult and asks if she "understands why I would do that?"

    "I'm not you and I can't be in your mind and in your situation, so I don't know your perspective," she replies

  8. 'This is an alternate version of my dad'published at 19:52 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2023

    Gwyneth Paltrow's attorney

    We're hearing again from Terry Sanderson's daughter who is being questioned by her father's lawyer.

    Shae Herath says her father has a hard time communicating with his family, his daughter tells the court.

    "My dad and my sister do not get along," she says.

    Shae adds that her dad is a "fixer" and tries to insert himself into her sister Jenny's life due to a belief that something is "broken" in her.

    She says that her father "gets distracted, and his thoughts are like a pinball machine".

    "There is no way he could ever run an office now under his current situation," she says, adding: "There is no way he can complete a task from beginning to end."

    She says the difference in his personality is huge.

    "This is not my dad. This is an alternate version of my dad," she says.

  9. Court resumespublished at 19:41 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2023

    The judge is back and we're just waiting on the jury and legal teams to return so we can get going again.

    Terry Sanderson's daughter, Shae Herath, is about to resume her testimony, so stick with us and we'll bring you the key things she tells the jury.

  10. What is the etiquette on ski slopes?published at 19:15 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2023

    Skier at top of mountainImage source, Anna Boyd

    This case hinges on skiing etiquette with both parties claiming that they were the downhill skier and therefore had right of way.

    The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA), which governs ski resorts in North America, says "people ahead or downhill of you have the right of way. You must avoid them."

    Skiers also must "always stay in control" and be able to stop at any time.

    "The uphill skier has to watch out for the downhill skier," says personal injury lawyer Roger Kohn.

    "If you're overtaking someone and hit them, chances are you are liable and at fault."

    According to the NSAA, there were 57 reported deaths during last year's ski season - however most of them came from skiers and snowboarders crashing into trees, not each other.

  11. What is Sanderson's case against Paltrow?published at 18:50 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2023

    Terry SandersonImage source, Reuters

    While we wait for the court to resume in Park City, let's go back over what this case is about.

    Terry Sanderson is seeking "more than" $300,000 in damages from actress Gwyneth Paltrow because he alleges that she crashed into him on a ski slope in Utah back in 2016.

    Paltrow's accuser says his ability to function has been impaired by the collision.

    According to his legal action, Sanderson lost consciousness after the incident at Deer Valley resort, suffering a concussion and four fractured ribs.

    Dr Wendell Gibby, a neuroradiologist who has been looking at Sanderson's medical records, said: "Terry had been a very high-functioning person.”

    "After his accident, he deteriorated abruptly and many of the activities he used to do he stopped doing.”

    Dr Gibby said that Sanderson's rib injuries were on his side, suggesting that Ms Paltrow had been skiing downhill and slammed into him.

    The X-rays of Sanderson’s rib injuries have been shown to the court.

  12. Three witnesses and an email at the centre of morning's evidencepublished at 18:32 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2023

    Thomas Mackintosh
    Live reporter in London

    We're expecting the court to return from lunch in about an hour from now. Before the jury comes back it looks like the judge will see the lawyers in his chambers, so we may learn what they've discussed when the hearing resumes.

    While they break for lunch in Park City, Utah, let's have a quick recap of the evidence we've heard so far this morning in Utah:

    • Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow is in court for the fourth day of this hearing - the judge thanked those at the beginning for making it to the courtroom due to adverse weather in Utah
    • First, we heard from neurologist Dr Richard Boehbne who said the only possible account of the accident was Paltrow hitting Terry Sanderson from behind
    • He took jurors through his notes, mathematical calculations and talked through the physics of his opinion
    • Next we heard from one of Sanderson's friends Mark Herath who said he had known him for around 15 years and that their friendship deteriorated after the accident
    • Herath said he was "surprised" that Paltrow left Sanderson on the slopes after the collision
    • Finally, we heard from Sanderson's eldest daughter Shae Herath who spoke about an email which her father sent to her after the accident
    • The subject read "I'm famous" and when replying she added "at what cost" to the subject heading
    • Before lunch, a quite emotional Shae told jurors about the rescuer who came to help her father, but also detailed out how much her dad's personality and life has changed since the crash in 2016
  13. Legal teams approach the judge as case breaks for lunchpublished at 18:14 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2023

    Shae is still giving evidence and remains in the witness box, but Paltrow's legal team have asked the judge to approach the bench.

    He accepts this and the audio feed cuts out.

    After a brief chat, the judge says the jury will adjourn for lunch.

    Legal team approach the bench
  14. Sanderson is very insecure - daughterpublished at 17:59 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2023

    Shae Herath

    After Terry Sanderson's accident Shae says she maintained contact with her father and says he has had quite a few personality issues.

    She tells the court: "The issue to his brain has caused significant damage, enough to change his personality.

    "My dad is very insecure, he doesn't trust his brain anymore.

    "It is incredibly hard, he used to be able to multitask.

    "My dad used to be a really good listener."

  15. Shae Herath praises rescuer who came to father's aidpublished at 17:56 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2023

    Defence lawyers have turned to a post uploaded by Terry Sanderson on the day of the crash - it shows a picture of a woman called "Whitney" who Shae said came to her father's rescue.

    "She was his angel after being ignored for a long time on the mountain," she says.

    "Do you recall seeing this post?" Sanderson's defence team asks.

    "I do," Shae answers.

    WHITNEY POST
  16. Film of the crash missing and not in evidencepublished at 17:54 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2023

    Dave King
    Reporting from Los Angeles

    Evidence is crucial, especially in a "he said, she said" case like this, but one key piece of evidence is missing - a recording of the incident.

    Terry Sanderson sent an email shortly after the incident to friends and family titled "I’m famous…at what cost" which contained a link to what appeared to be video footage.

    That link is now dead.

    When challenged by Gwyneth Paltrow's team over what they claim to be "the most important piece of evidence", Terry Sanderson's daughter Polly Sanderson-Grasham - who received the email - claimed to not remember what that link was.

    If found this footage could answer a lot of questions.

    However, as Sanderson-Grasham testified, her father was "tech savvy" - the footage has not been found or included as evidence in the trial.

  17. Jury shown email puporting to link to video footage of incidentpublished at 17:51 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2023

    Jurors are shown the email Shae has just referenced - which is said to contain a link to footage of the incident filmed on an eyewitnesses GoPro video camera. It is heavily redacted to protect the emails of those involved who are her father and sisters Jenny Bea and Polly.

    The subject of Sanderson's original email is: "I'm famous... at what cost?"

    The email chain shows Sanderson's original message to his daughters with a meetup web link. At the top of the email is Shae's reply:

    Quote Message

    Dad, I cannot believe how unlucky and how crazy all this is. I also can't believe this is all on GoPro. What are the chances? I'm so glad you're okay. How are you feeling this evening?"

    Shae Herath

  18. Daughter tells court she had a ski accident weeks prior to father's crashpublished at 17:44 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2023

    Moving onto the crash on the Utah ski slope, Shae says she was sent an email which said "I'm famous" in the subject line and a link which she couldn't open.

    But she said she couldn't remember what the email linked to, telling jurors: "I had a ski accident three weeks prior to my dad.

    "I was not sleeping well. I also had a four and an eight-year-old to take care of, so my memory of that period is very foggy."

  19. Second daughter gives emotional evidence in support of father's casepublished at 17:41 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2023

    Sophie Long
    Los Angeles correspondent

    This is the second of Terry Sanderson’s daughters to give evidence and it looks like it will be an emotional testimony from Shae Herath.

    Yesterday, her younger sister Polly Sanderson-Grasham became emotional when she was describing how her father had been a fun-loving gregarious granddad to her two children, one who was quick with a joke and a smile.

    Sanderson-Grasham said about a year and a half after the accident took place she realised “something was terribly wrong”.

    In cross examination Gwyneth Paltrow’s lawyers have tried to show that changes in Sanderson’s health after the accident might be normal for a man of his age with his medical history.

  20. Dad really had a zest for life - daughterpublished at 17:36 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2023

    Shae Herath

    Shae is being questioned by her father's legal team and is recalling her childhood and giving some more background to the kind of man her dad is.

    "I really idolised my dad growing up," she says. "Everyone seemed to love him.

    "He had a zest for life and loved to immerse himself in learning more and more.

    "We had a happy childhood," Shae continues, adding that towards the end of her parents' marriage her father became a "workaholic".