Gwyneth Paltrow is back in Utah's Third District Court Wednesday for a jury trial stemming from a collision on a Utah ski slope.
Day two of the Sanderson v. Paltrow proceedings began at 9 a.m. Mountain Time in Park City following an opening day that included two significantly different versions of the Feb. 2016 event.
9 a.m.: Court begins with immediate objections
Day 2 of the jury trial stemming from a Utah man's personal injury lawsuit against Gwyneth Paltrow began with the actress entering the courtroom after proceedings had begun, as attorneys were raising objections to upcoming testimony. as Utah's Third District Court Judge Kent R. Holmberg was asking a bailiff to usher the jury into the courtroom.
Attorneys for Paltrow, who is accused of crashing into a Utah man on the ski slopes of posh Deer Valley Resort in 2016, leaving him with permanent brain injuries, interrupted Third District Court Judge Kent R. Holmberg as he was having the jury ushered into the room.
The defense objected to portions of an upcoming testimony from a doctor regarding Terry Sanderson's medical history, which the attorneys wanted to discuss with the court before jurors were seated. The testimony contained information from the doctor's reading of an fMRI scan of Sanderson's brain sometime before the collision, which the plaintiff's team refuted.
The defense also took issue with what they said was a new camera pointed at the defendant's table, which would be a violation of Holmberg's decorum order, issued in February, as well as reporters attempting to film Paltrow with "cameras in her face" outside the courthouse. Decorum orders do not extend outside the district court, though Holmberg said he also believed it was a problem.
The judge issued a short recess for attorneys to speak to the scheduled witnesses regarded the challenged testimony and for the court to address media coverage issues.
10 a.m.: Jury invited into courtroom after testimony dispute
Following an objection from Gwyneth Paltrow's legal team over an upcoming testimony, Third District Judge Kent R. Holmberg called a recess to address the problem.
At hand was whether a doctor, being called by the plaintiff Terry Sanderson's team to testify as an expert witness, should be allowed to discuss an fMRI taken of Sanderson's brain several years before the crash with Paltrow on Deer Valley's ski slope in 2016. Sanderson's attorneys said the incident left Sanderson with a permanent brain injury.
After the recess, Holmberg called the expert witness to the stand while the jury continued to wait outside the courtroom.
Provo radiologist Wendell Gibby examined Sanderson's medical records from before and after the skiing incident in order to give his expert opinion to the court. Holmberg explained that any opinions he provided had to have a scientific basis for any interpretations, and speculation on medical issues would not be permitted.
Gibby was taken off the stand, the jury was ushered into the courtroom, and Gibby then took the stand once more for his official expert testimony.
He spoke about causes and effects of concussion and how younger people had a better chance of recovering from a concussion, while an older person was more likely to suffer serious and lasting damage.
Sanderson, who was 69 at the time of the crash, allegedly suffered a concussion in the incident. Witness Greg Ramone on Tuesday said Sanderson was unable to speak coherently immediately afterward and had trouble remembering his name. He also said in previously filed court documents that Sanderson "forgot how to ski" following the collision.
"Terry had been a very high-functioning, high-energy person," Gibby said. "After his accident, he deteriorated abruptly."