One of the jurors in the well-publicized Gwyneth Paltrow ski accident trial explained how she arrived at her decision. She claimed that she had been torn between believing the plaintiff and the defendant, but that in the end the jury quickly came to an agreement.
Samantha Imrie, juror number 11, insisted that Gwyneth Paltrow won due to the evidence presented in court and not because of her celebrity status. She spoke in an exclusive interview with
Good Morning America. She claimed that what persuaded her to support the actress was the cross-examination of the plaintiff and the defendant’s ski expert.
Numerous witnesses from both sides testified in front of the jury, but Dr. Irving Scher, a biomechanical engineering expert, was the one who convinced them with his testimony regarding the crash’s scientific facts, according to Imrie.
The jury was swayed in Paltrow’s favor by images of the plaintiff, retired optometrist Terry Sanderson, traveling abroad after the collision, which he claimed left him with severe, permanent injuries.
Imrie said that it was nearly impossible for her to believe Sanderson could travel the world given the picture he and his attorneys had painted of his alleged injuries.
Despite the fact that both Paltrow and Sanderson testified in front of the jury, it was Paltrow’s testimony that convinced them. Imrie was aware of Paltrow’s acting skills, but Imrie didn’t see any justification for lying under oath.
In 2016, Sanderson filed a lawsuit against Paltrow, accusing her of causing a collision on a Utah ski slope that he said left him with permanent brain damage and other injuries.
Paltrow’s team disputed who was to blame for the freak accident. Sanderson repeated his claim that Paltrow had skied into him, and all he saw as a result of the collision was a lot of snow, while the actress claimed that Sanderson had skied into her because she had been skiing downhill from where he was.
While Paltrow only requested a dollar in symbolic damages and her legal team’s fees, Sanderson’s lawyer asked the court to grant him a $3.2 million award.
After two hours of deliberation, the jury decided to award the actress with a victory. Paltrow prevailed in court and was awarded one dollar in damages in addition to unspecified attorneys’ fees.
The trial began on March 21 and ended on March 30 in Utah.
