(CNN) Thursday’s testimony at trial on a Ski accident 2016 The involvement of Gwyneth Paltrow began with testimony from a clinical neuropsychologist who treated the man suing the actress.
Alina K. Fung testified via videotaped affidavit about the care she provided to Terry Sanderson, 76, who accused Paltrow of crashing into him and causing permanent injuries and brain damage while they were skiing novices on Utah Mountain in February. 2016.
Fung said she first saw Sanderson in May 2017 and described him complaining of “a myriad of symptoms,” including cognitive problems, fatigue, mood and personality changes, pain, and headaches.
“By the time I saw him, he had been suffering from concussion symptoms for about a year and a half,” she testified.
Sanderson and Paltrow are locked in a legal battle for seven years.
In court documents obtained by CNN, Sanderson stated that while skiing at Deer Valley Resort, Paltrow allegedly “went out of control… I knocked him hard, knocked him out, caused a brain injury, broke four ribs and other serious injuries.”
Paltrow filed a counterclaim against Sanderson, a retired ophthalmologist, claiming he skated on her.
According to Paltrow’s counter suit, she was “enjoying skateboarding with her family on vacation in Utah, when the plaintiff — who was ascending from Mrs. Paltrow — shoved her back. She took a total hit.” Ms. Paltrow was angry with the plaintiff, and said so. The plaintiff apologized. I was so shocked and upset, I stopped skiing that day even though it was still morning.”
During cross-examination, Paltrow’s attorney James Egan Fong asked if Sanderson’s symptoms could have been caused by something other than the accident.
Fung replied, “Everything is possible but not improbable.”
Sanderson’s middle daughter, Polly Sanderson Grasham, 49, testified her father had been a “visitor” prior to the accident.
“I think people would describe him as fun-loving, very social, and definitely outgoing,” she said. “(He) enjoyed people, dancing, and being active in the great outdoors.”
Sanderson Grasham, who lives in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, said in her sometimes emotional testimony that, a year and a half after the accident, she noticed her father’s “processing speed” seemed to have changed.
She once described seeing him sitting on a chair by a window in her home and said she “almost expected his saliva to come out of his mouth”.
“First of all, he wasn’t attached to anyone,” she said. “He kind of pulled himself into a corner too far. That was my first real slap in the face. There’s something very wrong.”
Sanderson initially sued Paltrow for $3.1 million, but later amended his complaint and is now seeking more than $300,000 in damages, according to court documents.
Paltrow demands $1 in damages, plus attorneys’ fees.
On Wednesday, Sanderson’s attorney said he expected Paltrow to be called to the stand on Friday.
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