But Paltrow maintained from the beginning that it was Sanderson who hit her from behind. The actress, who received an Oscar in 1999 for passionate shakespearecountersued for the symbolic value of one dollar and representation expenses.
The jury in Park City court, after eight days of testimony and about two hours of deliberations, decided unanimously that she had not caused the incident.
The actress, who was in court every day, reached out to Sanderson before leaving the courtroom. “She wished me well,” the 76-year-old told reporters outside the court.
“I am satisfied with the result,” the 50-year-old actress said in a statement sent to the media. “I felt that consenting to a false claim compromised my integrity“.
“Gwyneth has a history of standing up for what she believes in. This situation was no different,” said her attorney Stephen Owens.
Social networks
During the trial, which began on Tuesday of last week, the jury heard from various specialists detailing Sanderson’s medical history, who had suffered a heart attack, loss of vision in one eye and psychological problems prior to the accident.
The jury members also heard from resort employees, as well as the versions of both parties.
“Mr. Sanderson flat out hit me on that hillside,” Paltrow said as she took the stand.
“Two skis entered between my skis, forcing me to open my legs, and then there was a body pressing on me, and there was a very strange growl (…) I felt violated,” added the actress, who at the time was skiing with her children and her couple Brad Falchuk.
“I was hit from behind very hard, and it was right up to my shoulder blades,” Sanderson later said.
“It was a very serious crash, never in my life had I been hit so hard and I was flying (…) The last thing I remember is that everything went black.”
Paltrow was present every day in court. The trial caught public opinion and flooded social networks with memes and posts that analyzed the wardrobe of the protagonist of passionate shakespeare and exposed details of the interrogations.