Attorneys for Gwyneth Paltrow were expected to continue relying mostly on experts to mount their defence on the seventh day of the trial over a 2016 ski collision.
The judge presiding over the trial in Park City, Utah, has made it clear he wants Paltrow’s defence team to rest their case by Thursday afternoon, in order to give the jury enough time to deliberate and come to a consensus.
Terry Sanderson, the 76-year-old retired optometrist suing Paltrow, is asking for more than $300,000, alleging her recklessness caused the crash, leaving him with four broken ribs and years of post-concussion symptoms including confusion, memory loss and irritability. Paltrow has countersued for a symbolic $1 and attorney fees, alleging Sanderson veered into her from behind.
In the second week of the trial, it is clear that both sides have spared little expense to ensure they have a roster of expert witnesses on call in case needed. Amid intense time constraints, multiple witnesses testified for longer than anticipated.
Paltrow’s attorneys have asked Judge Kent Holmberg repeatedly to clarify the timeline for the eight-day trial. They reversed plans to cross-examine Sanderson in order to keep time on the clock for the four expert witnesses they said they had put up in a nearby hotel on Tuesday.
Much like Sanderson’s attorneys, Paltrow’s legal team is attempting to cram into four days all testimony from family members, doctors and an accident reconstruction expert. It said on Tuesday that it planned to call the four additional experts to testify, but left the door open to call to the stand Paltrow or Brad Falchuk, her television producer husband.
Holmberg gave Sanderson’s side the same amount of time to make its case.
Last week, Paltrow took the stand and said the ski collision was not her fault. Her lead counsel, Steve Owens, said earlier in the week he planned to call Paltrow’s teenage children – 16-year-old Moses and 18-year-old Apple – to the witness stand. But since Sanderson’s testimony extended into Monday, Paltrow’s legal team read depositions from the two children for the record instead of calling them to the stand to testify.
Over the last two days, Paltrow’s defence team has attempted to hold the jury’s attention by playing multiple high-resolution animations while witnesses, including a collision expert, biomedical engineer, physician and ski instructor have all testified.
The animations have not been included as trial evidence but Sanderson’s attorneys objected to their inclusion, arguing Paltrow’s team was seeking to mislead the jury.
Though the trial has titillated spectators worldwide it has tested the jury through hours of expert-witness testimony.
After both sides give closing arguments on Thursday, the jury will probably make its decision later that day or on Friday.
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