Gwyneth Paltrow accuser in ‘really negative place’ after actress ‘crashed into him’ on ski slope, his daughter tells court
The daughter of a man allegedly struck in the back by Gwyneth Paltrow in a ‘hit-and-run’ ski crash has told a US court he is now “in a really negative place” after the incident.
Polly Sanderson-Grasham said before the 2016 collision Terry Sanderson was a “fun-loving, gregarious” man, a “goer” and a “real positive influence”, as well as an experienced skier.
But she told jurors her father’s now “easily frustrated… gets agitated, angry” and “he’s got a pretty short fuse”.
She also said she didn’t have a memory of him being an angry person before.
Terry Sanderson. Pic: AP
“I think he’s just a little more cautious, not as confident – he’s in a really negative place and that’s hard for me as his daughter,” she explained.
Retired optometrist Mr Sanderson, 76, is suing the Hollywood star for $300,000 (£244,000), claiming she was “out of control” and struck the fellow skier, causing him to suffer a brain injury, four broken ribs and other serious injuries.
Jurors heard the incident in Utah seven years ago “completely changed his life”, with injuries likely to be “long-standing”.
Paltrow, 50, is accused of leaving the scene without saying a word after the collision at the Deer Valley Resort on 26 February 2016.
The Shakespeare in Love star denies Mr Sanderson’s claims and alleges it was he who crashed into her. She is counter-suing him for $1.
Polly Sanderson-Grasham in court. Pic: AP
Pic: AP
‘Slap in the face’
Ms Sanderson-Grasham told the court in Park City, Utah, that at his granddaughter’s graduation about three months after the crash, seeing the state of him was like “a slap in the face”.
She said: “I felt like ‘wow’. There was a moment when I almost expected drool to come out of his mouth.
“He wasn’t engaged with anyone… that was my first slap in the face that something is terribly wrong.”
He could now not “see the forest for the trees” and got stuck “in the minutiae” of things, according to Ms Sanderson-Grasham.
She later became emotional, telling the court: “I hope that he moves on. I hope that we’re able to put this very strange chapter behind us.
“We have a lot of healing to do.”
Earlier, the court was told Mr Sanderson “pretty much” lost his love of life after the crash.
Pic: AP
‘It was affecting his personal life, his relationships’
On the third day of proceedings, neuropsychologist Dr Alina Fong gave video evidence, saying when she first met Mr Sanderson in 2017, he presented “a myriad” of symptoms which indicated having suffered a concussion.
She said: “According to Terry’s report, these were quite significantly affecting his life. It was affecting his personal life, his relationships.
“It affected him on so many levels, especially for someone who was used to loving life… by the time he came to me that was pretty much gone.”
Her words echoed those of fellow neuropsychologist Dr Sam Goldstein, who on Wednesday said the 2016 incident caused an “acute rapid downturn” in Mr Sanderson’s behaviour and functioning that had not stemmed from pre-existing medical issues.
“Were it not for that particular accident, the life he was living (prior)… would be the life he would still be living,” Dr Goldstein said.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Radiologist doubts ‘plausibility’ of Paltrow story
Dr Fong challenged the opinions of other medical experts employed by Ms Paltrow’s defence, adding: “This has completely changed his life physically, emotionally, biologically – and he has been affected in all those domains.”
She said there was no evidence “whatsoever” that Mr Sanderson was “faking” his injuries and he had been “an ideal patient”.
Read more:
Day one’s evidence
Day two’s evidence
On ski slopes, Utah law gives the skier who is downhill the right of way, and a central question in the case is who was farther down the run when the collision happened.
Both Paltrow and Mr Sanderson claim they were further downhill when the other rammed into them, causing their skis to intertwine and the pair to tumble.
The case continues.
A man has pleaded guilty to murdering four University of Idaho students in November 2022.
Bryan Kohberger, a 30-year-old former criminal justice student, was arrested at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania weeks after the killings.
He was accused of sneaking into the rented home in Moscow, Idaho, which is not far from the university campus, and attacking Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves.
Kohberger previously pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and burglary.
It comes after he agreed to a plea deal, just weeks before his trial was set to begin, in a bid to avoid the death penalty.
Read more:
Surviving Idaho student ‘saw masked man in black clothing’
Idaho suspect ‘warned after making creepy comments’
Bryan Kohberger during a hearing in Latah County District Court in Moscow, Idaho. Pic: Reuters
Kaylee Goncalves, Maddie Mogen and Xana Kernodle, and Xana’s boyfriend Ethan Chapin
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow @SkyNews on X or subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.
It is certainly big – 940 pages long – but on the question of beauty, Congress is divided.
Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” has sparked ugly debate – both for its ambitious scope and for the political manoeuvring that’s gone on around it.
Elon Musk branded it “political suicide” for Republicans and threatened to fund challenges against those who back it in next year’s midterm elections.
But the president hit back, suggesting he would consider cutting Musk’s lucrative government contracts or even deporting him back to South Africa.
The “big, beautiful bill”, or HR 1 to give the proposed legislation its proper title, is Mr Trump’s signature spending and tax policy.
It extends tax cuts he secured in 2017 and bankrolls his second-term agenda in the White House.
File pic: Reuters
Here is a summary of the key points:
• Permanent tax cuts: Extending relief from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
• Small business support: Doubling the small business expensing limit to $2.5m (£1.8m) to help businesses expand and hire staff
• Child tax credit: Expanding the child tax credit and making it permanent, benefiting 40 million families
• Making housing affordable: Expanding the low-income housing tax credit to kickstart construction of affordable homes
• Defence and border security: Allocating $170bn (£123bn) for border security alone, including $46bn (£33bn) for completing the border wall
• Made-in-America incentives: Providing tax breaks and incentives for domestic manufacturing to promote US industry
• Healthcare and social welfare: Implementing restrictions on Medicaid, which provides healthcare for millions of Americans, and reducing funding for certain healthcare and nutrition programmes.
👉 Follow Trump100 on your podcast app 👈
Clash over ‘monster’ debt bill
Musk, Mr Trump’s former ally and the man who established the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), claimed the bill “raises the debt ceiling by $5trn, the biggest increase in history.”
“DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon,” was President Trump’s response.
The national debt currently stands at $37trn (£27trn) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the bill could add $2.4trn (£1.7trn) to that over the next decade.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Trump threatens to ‘put DOGE’ on Musk
Bill splits Republican ranks
Republican Senator Thom Tillis voted against the bill and, following criticism from the president, announced he would not seek re-election in North Carolina.
He said he couldn’t support it due to his concerns about the impact cuts to Medicaid would have on people in his state.
Democrats in the Senate forced a full reading of all 940 pages and then a vote-a-rama, a series of marathon voting sessions.
Read more from Sky News:
Elon’s dad on the Musk-Trump bust-up
How Musk’s cost-cutting mission fell flat
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
In the House of Representatives, it passed by a single vote, 215-214. In the Senate, Vice President JD Vance, had to cast the deciding vote to break a tie (50-50).
Legislatively, the progress of the bill has been a case study in the complexities of American law-making.
Strategically, it represents a mammoth effort to consolidate the president’s policy agenda and secure his legacy.
In the long Gaza war, this is a significant moment.
For the people of Gaza, for the Israeli hostages and their families – this could be the moment it ends. But we have been here before, so many times.
The key question – will Hamas accept what Israel has agreed to: a 60-day ceasefire?
At the weekend, a source at the heart of the negotiations told me: “Both Hamas and Israel are refusing to budge from their position – Hamas wants the ceasefire to last until a permanent agreement is reached.
“Israel is opposed to this. At this point, only President Trump can break this deadlock.”
The source added: “Unless Trump pushes, we are in a stalemate.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Will Trump achieve a Gaza ceasefire?
The problem is that the announcement made now by Donald Trump – which is his social-media-summarised version of whatever Israel has actually agreed to – may just amount to Israel’s already-established position.
We don’t know the details and conditions attached to Israel’s proposals.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Would Israeli troops withdraw from Gaza? Totally? Or partially? How many Palestinian prisoners would they agree to release from Israel’s jails? And why only 60 days? Why not a total ceasefire? What are they asking of Hamas in return?
We just don’t know the answers to any of these questions, except one.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Dozens killed at beachfront cafe in Gaza
We do know why Israel wants a 60-day ceasefire, not a permanent one. It’s all about domestic politics.
If Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were to agree now to a permanent ceasefire, the extreme right-wingers in his coalition would collapse his government.
Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have both been clear about their desire for the war to continue. They hold the balance of power in Mr Netanyahu’s coalition.
Read more:
British-Israeli soldier killed in Gaza
‘Almost 60 killed in Israeli strikes’
If Mr Netanyahu instead agrees to just 60 days – which domestically he can sell as just a pause – then that may placate the extreme right-wingers for a few weeks until the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, is adjourned for the summer.
It is also no coincidence that the US president has called for Mr Netanyahu’s corruption trial to be scrapped.
Without the prospect of jail, Mr Netanyahu might be more willing to quit the war, safe in the knowledge that focus will not shift immediately to his own political and legal vulnerability.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike