Gwyneth Paltrow’s accuser ‘has no proof’ crash caused his decline

The skier suing Gwyneth Paltrow has no medical proof his decline resulted from his crash with the Hollywood actress, a US court was told on Thursday, as a doctor testifying on his behalf conceded she only examined him after the accident.

Terry Sanderson, a retired optometrist, is suing the Oscar-winning actress for $300,000 (£250,000) over the incident at the Deer Valley ski resort in Utah in 2016, alleging she crashed into him and caused severe and long-lasting brain injuries.

The third day of the civil lawsuit began with a video deposition from Dr Alina Fong, a neuropsychologist, who said that Mr Sanderson had presented “a myriad” of symptoms indicative of having suffered a concussion nearly a year after the accident.

However, during cross-examination, Stephen Owens, Paltrow’s attorney, pointed out that Dr Fong never actually examined Mr Sanderson’s prior medical records.

Dr Fong said that she diagnosed Mr Sanderson with “post-concussive symptoms” rather than other brain issues based on her vast prior experience.

She said she relied on his self-reporting that he was not acting the same following the crash.

During his opening statement on Tuesday, Mr Owens called Mr Sanderson’s claims “utter BS” and alleged that he suffered from brain issues before the collision with Paltrow, referring to an MRI scan predating the accident.

The Shakespeare in Love star’s attorneys have tried to represent Mr Sanderson as a 76-year-old whose decline followed a normal course of ageing.

Her team have accused Mr Sanderson of suing to exploit their client’s wealth and celebrity.

Paltrow, 50, varied her choice of attire for Thursday’s court appearance, swapping her white sweaters for a grey pantsuit. She listened intently as Mr Sanderson’s daughter, Polly Sanderson-Grasham, later testified that her father has become unable to “see the forest for the trees” and got “lost in the minutiae” of things.

“He’s easily frustrated, he gets agitated, angry – I didn’t have memory of him being an angry person but he’s got a pretty short fuse these days,” she said.

“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.”

Ms Sanderson-Grasham later became emotional, telling the court: “I hope that [my father] moves on. I hope that we’re able to put this very strange chapter behind us.

“We don’t always choose the doors we walk through but we can choose how we walk through them. We have a lot of healing to do.”